


absconditum

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Actor Castiel, Actor Dean, Actor Sam, Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Actors, Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Alternate Universe - Fans & Fandom, Alternate Universe - TV show, Angst, Cas is kinda endverse!cas sometimes, Conventions, F/F, F/M, Famous Castiel, Famous Dean, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Illustrated, M/M, Multi, Not Natural, Punk Claire, Recreational Drug Use, Sassy Castiel, Secret Relationship, Slow Build, Younger Castiel, especially the start, there's a puppy!, this is basically cockles, told with pictures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-09
Updated: 2015-02-19
Packaged: 2018-02-24 18:58:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 77,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2592665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Sam Winchester are actors on a popular TV show; Not Natural. Claire Novak is their biggest fan. When she finds out that her favourite actors are doing a convention near them, she all but forces her older brother Castiel to take her to meet them. Inevitably, sparks fly and Castiel realises he wants to change his life completely.</p><p>Castiel is a college student, bored of his menial life with big dreams of being an actor. When he gets the chance of a lifetime to act on Not Natural, he’s over the moon. Of course, things are never easy under the spotlight and working in close quarters with the Winchester brothers is a harder task than Cas had ever imagined. It certainly doesn’t help that he’s expected to play Dean’s romantic interest on the show; especially with those green eyes and freckles daunting him daily. </p><p>Cas is absorbed into his new life of passionate fans, exhilarating conventions and making out with Dean Winchester on camera (and off); but how long will it last? In between a crazy prank war and whispered 'I love yous', Dean and Cas will realise that there's more to live for than a successful career.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

 

         

 

 

_The blue eyed child sat cross legged on the ground, his mother’s long fingers sweeping through his messy black hair. A red haired girl sat beside them, explaining how she wanted to be a lawyer when she was older because she was good at shouting. The mother looked on proudly._

_“Castiel, what do you want to be when you’re older?” The mother said once the daughter had finished._

_Castiel thought for a moment, one chubby hand against his own cheek in concentration. He suddenly grinned gap-toothedly at his mother. “Mama, I wanna be on telly-vision.”_

_"_ _Oh, but Castiel, being an actor is so unbecoming.”_

_“What does that mean, mama?” The child frowned, cocking his head to the side._

_"_ _It means you could have a better career, like a doctor.” The woman assured. “Just like Michael.”_

_“But mama, Lucifer is on telly-vision.”_

_The woman recoiled away from the child. “We don’t talk about Lucifer anymore, Castiel. You know this. Now that’s enough about this actor garbage, understand?”_

_“Yes. Sorry mama.” The child pouted, his eyes drooping._

_“You’ll be a good doctor, Cassie.” Anna smiled, trying to lighten the mood._

_Castiel stuck out his tongue, before running up stairs to his bedroom. Pulling the picture he had from beneath his mattress; the one of him and Lucifer, he wept; tears staining the worn photograph._

 

★               ★                ★

 

Claire Novak lay spread out on the brown leather couch, laptop resting on her stomach where her black band t-shirt had ridden up. Her long blonde hair cascaded down the side; pink tips brushing the cream carpet below.

 _“Son of a bitch. Jared! We need to leave, now!_ ” Came a gruff voice out of the TV set in front of her. Claire turned back to the laptop, scrolling down the tell-tale blue tumblr dashboard. She’d seen that certain  episode of _Not Natural_ at least a hundred times already.

  _“No, Jensen! We need to save them._ ” Claire quoted under her breath, just as the man on the tv said the line.

 She scrolled past a few pictures of Dean Winchester, unashamed of admitting her heart melted a little every time she saw him on the screen. He was just that gorgeous. As in, greek-god gorgeous. Claire was shocked that he was not married yet; didn’t even have a girlfriend. Claire revelled in the fact- there was still hope for her. She had cried when she found out that his brother, Sam, was dating their co-star Bela Talbot; but she was pretty sure they were happy, fangirl tears more than anything. Okay, she was a tinsy bit jealous; but who wouldn’t be?

 She then came across one of the several text posts that had been circulating lately; stating that there would be a new character joining Not Natural next season, but they hadn’t started casting yet, and there would be a ‘surprise’ when they found out more about the new character. The source seemed legit but Claire wasn’t convinced. There was a lot of similar posts floating around; one said that Jensen Ackles was going to die last season (he didn’t), another said that Bela Talbot was pregnant (she wasn’t), and one very interesting but the least likely to be true stated that Dean Winchester was gay. Claire didn’t believe a word of it, but the prospect of a new character on the show excited her. Especially if it was going to be another hot guy played by a hot, single actor.

 Claire carried on scrolling, albeit a little distracted of the thought of a new character on the show, until she came across a post that made her jerk into an upright position with a shriek, almost dropping her laptop. Clicking the link, she found herself on an article.

 

It must be fate. Sam and Dean Winchester were doing a convention in Chicago! _Chicago,_ which wasn’t even two hours from Pontiac! Heart racing, Claire clicked on the link where it said _tickets available_. It redirected her to the Hellhounds Convention website. _You’d be barking mad to miss this convention_! The tagline read. Claire rolled her eyes, but proceeded anyway; until she found the page she was looking for. The tickets would be going on sale that night at midnight, along with photo ops and autograph sessions. Claire had enough money saved up, thanks to her inheritance, that she could easily buy one of the front row tickets. If she could get there first, of course. There must be thousands of other people thinking the same thing.

 Claire scrolled down until she saw something that made her stomach drop. _Persons under the age of (18) must be accompanied by an adult of at least 21 years of age._

Claire sighed. She was only seventeen, and the only friends she had were also under eighteen. Her parents were long gone. Who could she get to take h-

 That’s when she got the brilliant idea.

 Well actually, it was when her older brother Castiel walked through the door that she got the brilliant idea, but same difference. Castiel was 22 and a college student that desperately needed a break. What better than going to a convention and listening to hot guys talk all weekend to take some stress away?

 Claire turned to Cas as he walked into the living room, hair in its permanent dishevelled state,wearing a tight plaid shirt and skinny jeans. The second he saw the puppy dog eyes Claire was directing towards him, his eyes narrowed.

 “What did you do?” He asked with suspicion.

 Claire batted her eyelashes at her brother. “Cassie, you know you love me, right?”

 “It depends.”

 “You know that show I love so much?”

“The one with the male model type actors?” Castiel asked, raising an eyebrow. “The one that’s on the TV right now?” Castiel sat down on the leather armchair adjacent to the couch.

“Yeah. They’re doing a convention in Chicago…”

 “And?”

 “Since I’m only seventeen I have to have an adult go with me…”

 “So…?”

 “Do you really not see where I’m going with this?” Claire exclaimed with exasperation.

 Castiel tried to hold in his chuckles, but failed, his eyes creasing at the corners as he laughed at his little sister. “Of course I did, I just like annoying you.”

 “So will you take me?” Claire begged, eyes wide and hopeful.

 “I don’t know, I’m really busy with college work, Claire Bear…” Castiel sighed, slumping further into his chair.

 “You’re the one that chose to be a doctor. You made your bed so now you have to lie in it.” Claire sing-songed.

 A weird expression crossed Cas’ face, gone as quickly as it had appeared. “If we go to this convention thing… will I get to see some hot actor ass?”

 Claire rolled her eyes, throwing a pillow at her brother. “Do you think about anything other than guy’s asses?”

 Castiel cocked his head in mock concentration. “Well… there’s also penises…”

 “I hate you.”

 “If you hate me then I won’t take you to Chicago.” Cas smirked.

 “Does this mean you’re actually going to take me?” Claire squealed.

 “Sure, whatever. If I have to.” Castiel sighed, but his smile broke through his facade.

 “Shut up. You know you wanna go as much as I do.”

 “Not possible. You’re obsessed with that TV show, I doubt there’s anyone that wants to go as much as you do.”

 Claire rolled her eyes, but didn’t reply; instead averting her attention to the TV. Not that he’d admit it, Castiel’s eyes also wandered to the screen where the two brothers were dressed as FBI agents for some reason. He hadn’t really paid much attention to the show except for the fact that it was full of gorgeous men. And he meant gorgeous, as in _greek-god_ gorgeous.

 Maybe going to the convention wouldn’t be such a bad thing, Castiel thought.

 “So I heard they’re doing Grease at the theatre around the corner. You should audition; you’d make a great John Travolta.” Claire said after a while, eyes not leaving the tv.

 Castiel stilled. When he was younger he’d often fantasised about being in Grease, the attitudes and clothing of the T-Birds had always interested him. It wasn’t possible, though. It never would be. Castiel was going to finish college and be a surgeon; just like his mother had willed it so.

 “Don’t be silly, Claire.” Castiel finally found himself answering.

 “Why not? You used to love acting, I’ve seen all the photo albums and scrapbooks that Anna made, you know.”

 “I can’t act, Claire.”

 “Bullshit!”

 “Watch your language.” Castiel growled.

 “I just don’t understand why you’re in college, med school at that, and you don’t even want to be a freaking doctor. I remember seeing you in that play, Cas. You came alive on the stage.”

 Castiel remembered the play vividly. He’d been eleven years old, and his mother had been in rehab. He’d joined the drama club, forged the permission letter, and had gotten the part as one of the main characters. The only people he’d told were Anna and Claire, who had come to watch him both nights the play had been on. Unfortunately, Michael had also been in attendance the second night, and by the time Cas got home his mother had found out. It hadn’t been pretty.

 “Don’t talk about things you don’t know shit about, Claire.” Castiel snapped, eyes alight with anger.

 “But, Cas-”

 “Leave. It.” Cas growled, sounding so threatening that Claire almost recoiled into herself, not saying another word about it.

 Castiel sighed. He would do anything to be an actor- but that was behind him now. It was futile and stupid. Most actors never even got a part bigger than some no dialogue extra, why would Cas be any different? Like Lucifer- the last time Cas had heard of his brother, he had left home to be an actor. Since then, Castiel had not seen or heard of him- he must not have made it to be a very popular actor, Cas thought.

 That was the problem with acting. You never knew what  was going to happen; everything was filled with uncertainty.

 Cas loved it.

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

Two thousand miles away, Dean Winchester sat in his trailer, head buried in his hands. A gossip magazine was open on the table in front of him, the blaring title impossible to miss; _Is Dean Winchester Gay?_

Damn you, Lisa Braeden. Damn you to Hell.

 Sam and Bela were sat on the couch behind Dean, looking sickeningly sweet with Bela’s hand clasped in Sam’s significantly larger one.

 “It’s going to be okay, Dean. Lisa’s a fucking bitch.” Bela said with hate in her eyes. Many people didn’t bother to hide their distaste for Bela, but Dean was ever thankful for the feisty brunette. Once you got past her many layers of sarcasm, bitchiness and apathy, you got to the real Bela; loyal and strong. If Dean told her to go out right now and bitch slap Lisa Braeden across her tanned face, she wouldn’t even hesitate.

 Dean didn’t.

 “How do I fix this?” He said instead.

 “Dean, you know, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad for it to come out that you’re gay…” Sam began.

 “Was that a fucking closet joke, Sam?” Bela groaned affecionately, dropping her forehead onto his shoulder.

 “I’m not even gay, Sammy!” Dean growled.

 Bela and Sam shared a pointed glance.

 “Dean.” Bela said in her crisp English accent as she got up and walked towards him, placing her skinny arms around his neck. Her silver charm bracelet, a present from Sam, was cold against the skin of his throat. “Don’t you think it’s time you stop lying to yourself, and everyone else? I mean seriously, we saw you with that extra a few months ago. What was his name, Sammy?”

 “Aaron?” Sam offered. “Or maybe that cop extra. It’s hard to distinguish all the guys Dean’s flirted with from eachother- there’s just so many.”

 Bela nodded. “You’re probably bisexual, Dean, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

 Dean was silent, unable to deny the fact, but unable to admit it, either.

 “We know it’s hard, because you have so many fans and you’re in the public eye. We’re not saying you have to start dressing in rainbow clothes and talking with a lisp, Dean. We just want you to be happy and comfortable, okay?”

 “Wow, Bels. When did you turn into a psychiatrist?” Sam teased his girlfriend, who rolled her eyes.

“Shut up, Moose. I’m just telling him what he needs to hear.”

 “She’s right though, Dee. No one is going to see you any differently- and hey! You might get even more fans from the LGBTQA community!” Sam said, ever cheerful. Dean envied the talent he had for turning everything positive.

 There was a sudden knock at the door. “Sam, Bela? Are you in there? We need you in make-up!”

 “Coming now, Ed.” Sam answered, before turning to Dean. “We just want the best for you, Dean.”

 Bela nodded in agreement.

 “Thanks.” Dean choked out, not managing to get anything else out, but Sam and Bela seemed to understand.

 Once they had left, Dean thought about what Bela had said. Maybe she was right- it wasn’t like he had to make an announcement that he was gay- what did it matter, anyway? Dean seldom did interviews and the paparazzi only got a picture of him once every blue moon- even if Dean were to get a boyfriend, would anyone even notice? Would anyone even ask him about the rumours?

That’s when he remembered- in just two short months he would be going to ChiCon. There was no way he would get through that weekend without someone asking about his sexuality.

  
God fucking Damn. _So close._

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

 

_Dean had a grin on his face as he walked into his house that evening, having just watched a commercial he was in- he’d secretly auditioned for it last month, not even expecting to get the part. It was only local, and it only took a couple days of work and it barely paid anything; but Dean was proud of himself. He’d done it- he’d had his first TV appearance- it might have only been a commercial for some new energy drink but Dean was actually on TV!_

_He had been at the gym when he’d seen it, on a commercial break on some music channel. Gordon Walker, one of his friends, had been on the treadmill next to him, and had gasped when he saw who was on the TV. “Dean! Is that… you?” There was a close up of a guy with a cowboy hat holding a can- topless._

__

 

_Dean had broken into a blinding grin. “Looks cool, don’t it?”_

_And it did; but the good mood didn’t last long._

_Dean, that you?” Came his father’s gruff voice from the living room. Dean’s smile grew. He couldn’t wait to tell his father and Sammy about the commercial._

_"Yeah, dad.” Dean answered, going into the living room where Sam and Dad were sat on opposite ends of the couch. Dean opened his mouth to blurt about his big news excitedly; but suddenly noticed something was wrong. Sam looked stiff and awkward, hands fidgeting in his lap. John had a stormy look in his eyes, his  fist clenched so hard around his beer bottle his knuckles were white._

_"Uh-” Dean said instead, unsure of what to do._

_John stood up, moving towards Dean. “Well, son. Sam and I were watching TV earlier, and saw something very interesting.”_

_You saw the commercial?” Dean grinned, excitedly._

_“Yes, I fucking saw the commercial, Dean.” John snapped, effectively ruining Dean’s happiness. His smile evaporated off his face._

_“Dad?”_

_“What the fuck were you thinking? Prancing around like that, topless! With another guy! And acting, no less? What the fuck is wrong with you?”_

_“I don’t und-”_

_"Damn right you don’t. No son of mine is going to be a fuckin’ actor. You’re going to join the family business with me, Dean. It's in yer blood.” John shouted. “Jesus. Next you’re gonna tell me you’re into guys, too.”_

_Dean chuckled weakly, eyes darting to the side. “Of course not, Dad… I’m sorry.”_

_"Good. No son of mine is going to be a fuckin’ acting faggot. You’re going to work for me at the garage, and marry some chick and give me some grandbabies, right De?”_

_"Yes, dad.”_

_"Good kid.” John clapped him on the shoulder. “Let’s just forget this commercial thing ever happened, eh? They pay you to do it?”_

_"Yeah.”_

_“Great! Now go buy me some Jim Beam, rich boy. Some good can come out of this!” John chuckled, flopping back down onto the ratty couch. Dean nodded and left the house, angry tears in his eyes._

  _Who was he kidding? His father would never accept what he did; who he was._

 

★               ★                ★

 

  

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

Bela and Sam unpacked their suitcases slowly, stopping every few moments to kiss or nuzzle into each other’s necks with a giggle. They’d been drinking since they got on the plane; and it was safe to say they were pretty buzzed. Thankfully, their room was on the top floor so they wouldn’t disrupt too many people with their drunken shenanigans.

“Are you excited for the con tomorrow, Sammy?” Bela asked once they’d finished, wrapping her dainty arms around her boyfriend’s waist and resting her head on his chest.

“I guess so. I mean, it’ll be great being able to interact with all of the fans and all…”

“So, what’s the problem?” Bela frowned.

“It’s Dean. I’m just worried about him, is all.” Sam sighed. Apart from a few phone calls, Sam hadn’t heard or seen his brother in weeks. The last time they’d seen each other, Dean was driving back to LA in his impala. Since then, Dean had been splashed all over various gossip magazines and websites; looking terrible in each one. (Sam could say that- tough love and all.) Dean seemed to be drunk and/or high in each picture taken of him, and but he had apparently acquired himself a girlfriend. Sam would be happy for Dean if he didn’t see right through his bullshit. Besides, his apparent girlfriend, Jo Harvelle, had been spotted making out with Ash Roadhouse last week, so her and Dean had either broken up or were never together to begin with.

Bela lifted her head, looking into Sam’s eyes. “He’s just going through a tough time right now, you know that.”

“Yeah, but when is it gonna end?” Sam sighed again. “I just want him to be happy.”

Bela suddenly smirked, looking mischievous. “I know exactly what we need to do.”

Sam frowned, confused. “What?”

“You’ll see. First though, we need to find Gabe.”  

  

★               ★                ★

 

“I can’t believe you convinced me to come here, Claire.” Castiel muttered as they walked into the hotel they would be staying for four nights. It was only Thursday; the convention would not be starting until tomorrow, and the place was already packed with people dressed in plaid and leather jackets. Castiel felt like a fish out of water. Claire, however, looked like she was in her element. Her blonde hair was flowing down her shoulders, the pink tips brushing the back of her black _Not Natural_ t-shirt. Her nose and eyebrow piercings were glittering in the bright lights. It wasn’t any of that that made her so astonishing- it was the way she walked- like she owned the world. Castiel was jealous.

“What are you talking about? This is going to be loads of fun!” Claire grinned, eyes scanning her surroundings eagerly.

Cas rolled his eyes. “I’m sure.”

“Cas. We are at a fucking great hotel all weeked, we have a backpack designated just to booze and we will be surrounded by steaming hot actors. Now tell me that is not your cup of tea and we can leave right now.” Claire said, crossing her arms and giving her brother a pointed look.

Cas sighed, defeated. “I guess the booze bag isn’t too terrible…”

“That’s the spirit!”

“Was that a fucking pun?” Cas squeezed his eyes shut with embarrassment.

“Maybe…”

 “My sister. I have failed you. I am a failure of a brother!” Cas exclaimed dramatically. “How will I ever go on knowing that I have raised my sister to be a _pun maker? Pun sayer? Punner? Pun girl?_ It’s too much! _”_

Claire punched her brother on the shoulder. “Be quiet, assbutt.”

“Wow, good insult, CeeCee. Where did you learn that, comeback school?”

“I learnt it from you, idiot.”

Castiel grinned, throwing his arm around her shoulders. “Of course you did. You should be thankful you have such an amazing brother like me to teach you these things.”

Claire groaned. “I think we’re going to be making a large withdrawal from the booze bag tonight, Casanova.”

“There was never a doubt of that, Claire bear.” Cas winked.

Claire suddenly looked panicked. “I left my cell in the car! Gimme the car keys so I can go and get it, and you go take these to the room, okay?” Claire handed her bag to Castiel.

Cas handed over the keys with a pout. “You just want me to carry your bags.”

“Me? I would never!” Claire gasped before skipping away.

Cas hoisted Claire’s bag onto his shoulder, dragging his left side of his body down with the weight of her bag and the booze bag. Castiel’s bag was balancing on his right shoulder, putting way too much faith into the worn strap than was safe. Finally able to get a hand free, he made his way to the elevators and thankfully, there was one waiting. Cas got in, clasping onto his bag for dear life to make sure it wouldn’t break off- seeing as the zipper was bust, his strap breaking would mean all of his things falling onto the ground. Cas wanted to be at least _slightly_ drunk before that happened.

“Hold the elevator!” Came a bubbly voice from around the corner. Putting his bag’s fate in the balance, Cas struggled to press the open door button. Seconds later, a short man was bouncing his way into the elevator, lollipop in his mouth and bright yellow bag on his shoulder.

The man turned to Cas. “Thanks, true blue! I did not want to wait for the next elevator.”

“Yeah, ‘cause that would have been _terrible.”_ Cas said, forgetting that strangers weren’t used to his dry humour, making him cringe internally. Thankfully, the man just chuckled.

“Well it is when I would have been stuck in the lobby with all those fangirls. I am not ready to do any autographs yet.” The man said.

Cas cocked his head, confused. “Autographs?”

The man looked at Cas with a raised eyebrow, as if calculating him.  With a smirk, he turned to the elevator buttons, pressing each one; as if wanting to have more time with Cas. “Yeah… you know, fans of the show? I play Richard? I’m Gabriel Trickston.” Gabriel held out a hand.

Castiel did not say anything, but he shook the offered hand.

“You really don’t recognise me, huh?”

“Nope.” Cas shrugged. "Sorry."

“Don’t be; it’s kinda refreshing to be honest, kiddo.” Gabriel grinned. “So, what are you doing in mighty Chicago this fine weekend, if you don’t watch the show it means you’re not here for the con right?”

“Oh, I’m here for the con. My little sister needed an over-eighteen to bring her. I was the lucky guy she picked. She’s kinda obsessed with the show.” Cas explained.

“Ah. Where is this so-called sister, then?”

“She left her phone in the car.”

Gabriel nodded, but didn't say anything. He had a teasing look in his eyes.

“You don’t believe me do you?”

Gabriel shrugged, but again did not answer. He reminded Castiel of those psychiatrists that got paid way too much money to sit there and not answer questions until you blurted out whole monologues.

“You’ve fooled me, Gabriel. I am like, totally your number one fan,” Cas said in a valley girl accent. “I like totes don’t even have a sister. I knew you wouldn’t want to speak to me if you knew I was your fan. I love you so much. Can I have your golden eyed babies?” Castiel batted his eyelashes.

The elevator finally stopped at the top floor, and the two men stepped out. Gabriel was snorting with laughter at Castiel’s outburst.

“You-” Gabe wheezed, grabbing onto Cas’ shoulder to keep himself upright, other hand clutching his stomach. “I like you.”

“Wow, I am totally tattooing that on my butt. Imagine! Gabriel Trickston told me he likes me!” Castiel rolled his eyes good naturedly.

“Look, buck-o. I need to go, commitments and that jazz, but if you get bored sometime this weekend then you should come find me.” Gabriel pointed towards a door. “That’s my room. By the sound of clinking bottles in your bag, you’re ready for a party.” Gabriel winked.

Castiel’s mouth dried. Was Gabriel coming onto him?

“Shit, I- I didn’t mean it like that. I meant, like seeing as you’re not a crazy big fan of the show and all, you might get a little bored of the con and uh we could chill? In a non-sexual way. I mean, I don’t even swing that way.” Gabriel grinned. “Most of the time. Besides, twinky guys with bright blue eyes and sex hair? Yep… totally not even my type.”

Castiel placed a hand on Gabriel’s forearm. “Anyone ever tell you you talk a whole lot?”

“May have been mentioned.” Gabriel grinned shamelessly.

“Cas?” Came a voice from behind them- of course it was Claire. Castiel turned to see his sister gaping at Gabriel, eyes wide as saucers.

 “Gabe, this is my sister, Claire. Claire this is Gabriel.” Cas introduced, and yes, he was definitely getting the brother of the year award.

Gabriel winked at Claire. “So you weren’t lying huh, blue?”

Cas rolled his eyes. “Well, I better get going. Commitments and that jazz.” He said wryly, making Gabriel chuckle.

“See you around, sweetcheeks.”

“Stop with the nicknames.” Cas groaned.

“No way in hell, angelface. I’m just going to do it even more now that I know you don’t like it.” Gabriel winked, before sauntering down the hall with a cry of _bye babycakes!_

“Okay, erm later you’re going to explain to me how you’re suddenly best friends with _Gabriel Trickston,_ but for now we are going to christen this hotel room.” Claire said, unlocking the door.

“I didn’t know you were into incest, Claire.” Cas gasped with mock-horror. 

“Shut up, ass. I’m talking about getting crazy drunk and passing out christening, jeez. Get your mind outta the gutter.”

 Cas grinned, entering the room and flopping down onto one of the beds. “Get out the freakin’ tequila, sis. We’re going to kick off this convention with a bang.”

 

★               ★                ★

 

An hour later, there was a knock on Gabriel’s door. Gabriel, thinking it was Castiel, bounded towards the door like an excited puppy. Upon opening the door, he realised that it wasn’t Cas, however. It was Bela and Sam. Bela looked like she was plotting world domination, while Sam looked lost.

Gabriel leaned against the door frame casually. “Yes?”

“We need your help.” Bela said determinedly. Sam still looked lost. _Wow, I wonder who wears the pants in that relationship,_ Gabe thought.

“You need _my_ help? Wow, you must be desperate.” Gabe answered.

“Nope, we feel it’s your area of expertise.” Bela smirked. With a sigh, Gabe moved away from the door, signalling them in.

“What do you need?” Gabe asked, sitting down in the spinning chair by the big wooden desk.

Sam and Bela sat on the bed opposite him. “Well, you know Dean’s being going through a rough phase recently…”

Gabriel snorted. “That’s an understatement, buck-o.”

“We think that it mostly stems from his realisation that he’s a single man in his thirties who still hasn’t come to terms with the fact he may be bisexual.” Bela said.

“Okay, Freud, where do I come into this?”

“We think that Dean would benefit from having someone with him through all of this.”

“We do?” Sam whispered. Bela elbowed him in the ribs.

“You want me…?” Gabriel was confused. He liked Dean, sure, but he was not the type for helping people through tough things. He usually tried to cheer them up with candy and jokes and that was as far as he could go.

“No! No. We want to find Dean a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend, but I honestly think that he’s leaning more towards dick.” Bela smirked. Sam nodded in agreement.

Gabriel frowned warily. “So what are you asking me to do?”

“We want you to help us find him a suitor.”

“A _suitor?_ Someone to court him and woo him and take him frolicking in the gardens?” Gabriel snorted.

Bela rolled her eyes. “Do you know of anyone?”

Gabriel scrunched up his nose in thought. “You’re going to have to narrow it down. What kinda type are you looking for?”

“Well, ninety percent of Dean’s exes have dark hair, so that would be good. Nice eyes, maybe? It’s the personality that matters more than anything, y’know. Someone down to earth.” Sam offered.

“Someone who won’t take his shit.” Bela interjected. “Someone that can hold his own. He _has_ to have a compatible sense of humour- that’s a must.”

Gabriel thought for a moment. Dark hair, nice eyes, non shit taking and funny? Who did Gabe know that fit that criteria?

“Hold onto your petticoats, ladies,” Gabriel grinned. “I have an idea.”

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the feedback I got on the first two chapters actually surprised me so much, thank you all for reading/commenting and kudosing (is that the term?) and here is the third chapter because ily! Hope you enjoy uwu

 

“ _Dean, guess what!” Sam said as he joined Dean, who was waiting for the younger boy by the impala outside of the high school._

_You finally got the courage to ask Jess out?”_

_Sam blushed scarlet.“No! Don’t be stu-”_

_"You watched that movie about moose in the wild and you realised your true calling?”_

_"No, Dean!” Sam protested as they climbed into the car._

_"You finally realised all that studying is making you anal?”_

_“Dean. Shut up and I’ll tell you!” Sam whined, making Dean chuckle._

_“One more guess! Did you fall asleep in class and have a wet dream about Jess?”_

_“No! God, you’re so embarrassing.” Sam cried, blushing again as the impala’s engine roared to life and Dean pulled out of the school car park._

_“The lady doth protest too much, me thinks.” Dean winked._

_"Dean. Stop being a dork and listen!”_

_"Fine, I’m listenin’, Sammy.”_

_"_ _You know the school play, right? Your friend Nick is in it? As Oberon.” Sam asked._

_“Nick, huh?" Dean chuckled as his mind drifted to somewhere else. "I’ve had some good times with him.”_

_“Dean! Did you service Oberon?” Sam mock-gasped._

_Dean averted his eyes quickly. "Don’t be stupid Sammy." Dean said, too sternly than he needed to. "I’m just saying he throws some good parties. Now, what about the play?”_

_Sam grinned. “I got a part in it!”_

_Dean almost crashed the car in shock._

_"You- you what?”_

_“I- I got a part in the play. That’s good, right?” The smile had disappeared off Sam’s face._

_“I didn’t know you liked to act, Sam.” Dean gritted out._

_“Well, I do-”_

“ _Don’t tell dad about this.”_

_“What? Why?”_

_“Don’t you remember what he did when he found out I was in that commercial?”_

_Sam was silent. He hadn’t remembered until that moment._ _“Shit, Dean…” Sam frowned worriedly. "What do I do?_

_“If you really like this acting stuff then do it. I’ll help you keep it a secret from dad.”_

_“I do like it, Dean. I love it.”_

_Dean exhaled slowly. “Okay, then.”_

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 Castiel felt like a douche bag; wearing dark sunglasses indoors wasn't one of his proudest moments, but it seemed mandatory at that moment in time. He and Claire had been up until 3 a.m. the night before, drinking rum and tequila; playing poker and giggling about boys until they both passed out. Unlike Cas, Claire was fresh as a daisy- somehow she never got hangovers. Castiel suspected witchcraft.

“Caaaas, hurry up! I don’t want to be late for the karaoke!” Claire whined, making Cas wince.

“Shhhhh.” Cas moaned, clutching his head with his hands. Claire dragged him out of the room as he groaned at the bright lights of the hallway. “Claire, how about you go to the karaoke and I stay in bed?”

“No way am I going down there by myself!” Claire exclaimed, her eyes wide.

Cas waved a dismissive hand. “You’ll make new friends, it’s fine.”

“You’re coming, you gigantic dork now hurry up before I call you out on the sunglasses you’re wearing.”

Cas rolled his eyes. “I look sexy in these glasses. Don’t be jealous.”

They piled into the elevator along with a couple in their thirties, wearing matching plaid shirts.

“Hangover?” The man chuckled at Cas, who nodded. “You know what would cure that right up? Some pot.”

“Don!” His wife scolded, slapping his arm. Don laughed.

“Thank you for the tip.” Cas grinned.

“See, Jody? He appreciates my tip.” Don winked. Jody rolled her eyes.

“Are you here for the con?” Claire asked.

“Yes! I’m a Sam girl myself. Can’t resist his moose charm. The things I would do to him…” Jody winked.

“Uh, husband?” Don gestured to himself. “Standing right here? Been married for five years? Ring any bells?”

Claire and Jody laughed, making Cas flinch at the loud noise. “Don’t worry, I know exactly where you’re coming from. I’m more of a Dean girl myself.” Claire said, as the elevator dings as they reach the ground floor. The four step out of the elevator, but don’t move towards the karaoke room yet.

“Shame Dean plays for the other team then, huh?” Don laughed.

Claire frowned. “That’s not actually confirmed!”

Don gestured towards a shadowed part of the hallway, and they walk over there. “Well, off the record…” Don bent closer to Claire, and proceeded in a low voice; “Jody and I were walking downtown last night, doing a bit of sight seein’, and well, we saw something pretty interesting.”

“What?” Claire gasped.

“Well, to start with, we saw Dean stumble out of this strip club-”

“With a _guy stripper hanging off his arm!”_ Jody interjected. Don gave her a pointed look.

“Anyway, he was walking with this guy, when these guys go up to them, kickin’ off and all that. Shouting a load a’ crap. Next minute, this massive guy is on top of the stripper-”

Again, Don was cut off. “And Dean yanks the guy right off, saving the stripper guy! Then they walked off somewhere.”

Claire’s eyes were wide as her hand darted out to clutch Cas’ forearm. “Did you _hear_ that, Cas? Could it be true?”

“If he’s not gay, then he’s at least bi. I love bi men.” Jody swooned.

“Anyway, we should be off. We’ll see you around!” Don said, looping his arm around Jody’s middle and walking away.

“There’s your in, Cassie!” Claire squealed, linking her arm in Castiel’s and steering them towards the karaoke room.

“What are you talking about?” Cas frowned, head pounding from the volume that Claire was talking at.

“Your in! _With Dean._ I know you want him!” Claire squealed. "A match made in heaven!"

“When have I ever even implied such a thing, CeeCee?”

“You don’t need to. It’s in your eyes.”

The two made it outside of the karaoke room, before Cas decided to steer them in the opposite direction. “Cas? Where are we going?”

“To the bar. I need some alcohol in me if I’m gonna get through this.”

Claire giggled mischievously. “This is gonna be fun.”

“You know, I could think of another adjective to describe this…”

“Shut up. Let’s just get you drunk so I can make you go on stage and sing with Chuck!”

“Not going to happen, Claire.” Cas warned. “ _Not going to happen.”_

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

Dean was dreaming that he was on a boat. It was white, with big, red sails and he was in the middle of the ocean. There was no land in sight; just dark, blue water as far as the eye could see. There was no wind- Dean was not moving anywhere.

Except that he was- he was moving downwards. There was a hole in the boat, getting bigger by the minute. Dean could hear a deep _bang, bang, bang_ as something knocked the boat from the underneath. Dean’s dream mind had decided that it was a shark.

Dean stood on the boat as it went under, clutching onto a silver railing.

He was in the water, now. He could see the shark banging on the boat.

_Bang! Bang!_

The shark turned to Dean, teeth on full show. “Dean, it’s time to wake up now.” The shark said.

_Bang, bang, bang!_

Dean woke up, and realised that the banging wasn’t part of his dream- there was someone at the hotel room door.

“Dean!” Someone shouted from the other side.

Dean grumbled as he went to answer the door, for some reason only wearing plaid blue boxers.

Dean opened the door. Of course it was thing one and thing two.

“Jesus, get some clothes on.” Bela said, barging into his hotel room, Sam close behind.

“My name’s Dean, sorry sweetheart.” Dean made no move to put on any type of clothing.

“Heard you went to a strip club last night.” Sam said, nonchalantly, but there was a disapproving look in his eyes. Ever since Dean had begun to get more 'wild', as Sam put it, Sam had begun to look at him with the disapproving look.

Dean put on a fake smile. “Yup. Want me to invite you next time?”

“You missed the welcome panel.” Bela pointed out, walking over to the window and opening the curtains.

“The what?” Dean frowned.

“All the guests were meant to go to the welcome panel at three. You weren’t there.” Sam replied in a strained voice.

Dean looked confused. “Wait- what time is it?”

“Eight. _PM_.” Sam and Bela said simultaneously.

Dean blinked. “Wow- sorry. Uh- I didn’t put on an alarm.”

Sam didn’t look any less disappointed; Dean’s heart twinged.

“Well, I at least know you’ll be at the party tonight.” Sam rolled his eyes.

Dean perked up visibly. “Party?”

“Don’t worry, no fans. You don’t have to put on your prettiest dress and make-up.” Bela teased.

“Shut up, Bela. You know I only break out the mascara on birthdays and Christmas time.” Dean grinned.

Sam’s cellphone suddenly started ringing. “I need to get this. See you later.” The moose said to Dean, before striding out of the room.

Bela sat on the bed next to Dean. “What’s up with you, Dean?” She asked, uncharacteristically caring.

“Nothing, Bels.” Dean groaned, burrowing her head into Bela’s neck, who wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“What happened to Jo?”

“I’m- We… it just didn’t work out.” Dean mumbled into Bela’s neck.

“I wonder why.” She said wryly.

“Don’t, Belly.”

“You need to stop lying to yourself.”

Dean groaned. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Yes you do, Dean. Do what you want to do. You’re scared, I get that, but you need to ignore what your asshole father told you while growing up, ignore the bitchy fans that pick on everything you do- just do what _you_ want, Dee. That’s the only way you’re ever gonna be happy.”

Dean pulled away from Bela, before tackling her onto the bed and placing a sloppy kiss on her cheek. “You’re so annoying. Thanks.”

“Love you too.” Bela smirked. “And if I wasn’t sure you favoured dick over pussy, I would so be pushing you off right now.”

“And if you weren’t dating my brother I would throw you out into the hall right now.” Dean rolled of Bela, lying next to her on the bed.

“Shut up, ass.”

“God, you’re like the sister I never wanted, along with Char.” Dean muttered.

“Well, you know I am basically your sister in law, by now.”

“As long as you have an open bar at the wedding then I’m game.”

Bela rolled her eyes, standing up and adjusting her dress. “You stink. Go and wash up, put on some nice clothes and I’ll see you at the party later, alright?”

“Where is it?”

“The green room.”

Dean looked at Bela as if she’d grown two heads.

“Just ask someone at the front desk to show you where it is. Now stop stalling!”

“Yes, mother.”

Dean got in the shower, mind reeling; Bela’s words running through his mind. He _was_ scared. He had been for months, ever since Benny had joined the cast of _Not Natural_. Dean had looked into his eyes once and he’d wanted to bang the daylights out of him. Okay, Dean could admit that- he had a _slight_ thing for blue eyes. Sue him.

Okay. He might not be one hundred percent straight, but who was, really? Dean didn’t know if he preferred men or women; didn’t really care, if he was completely honest. Gender didn’t really matter to him in relationships, and if he was a normal guy, some mechanic in Kansas, maybe he would feel confident dating a guy. But that wasn’t his life- he had eyes on him all the time; and Bela was right, Dean was fucking scared.

He felt like the boat in his dream; by himself in the middle of the ocean, going nowhere but down.

 

★               ★                ★

 

It was half twelve; the karaoke had finished a while ago and Claire had gone to bed, or Cas hoped she had. He hadn't seen her for who knows how long. He had been sitting on one of the couches near the bar for what seemed like forever. He might have fallen asleep at one point.

 _Dammit, Cas,_ he thought. _Tequila is not your friend._

At least he wasn’t hungover anymore. Hair of the dog, and all that. He swore he’d just been to the bar to get another jack and coke, but he couldn't find it anywhere. However, there was an empty glass on the table in front of him, which raised a few suspicions.

“Angel face!” A voice cried from somewhere that Cas couldn’t place. Suddenly, he had a lap full of drunk man.

“Gabriel!” Cas grinned. Gabriel placed a wet kiss onto Cas’ forehead.

“I missed ya’ baby blues.” Gabe cooed, dragging himself to the other side of the couch and sitting down.

“You saw me yesterday.”

“Technically, yesterday was Friday, and I met you on Thursday, so that’s basically _two_ days.”

“I’m sorry, Gabriel. That must have been heart-wrenching for you.” Cas smirked.

“Gabriel, what on earth are you doing over here?” A new voice came, british this time. A blonde man came into view, a tumbler of whiskey in his hand.

“Balthy!” Gabriel exclaimed, reaching his hand out for a high five. Balthazar looked at him incredulously.

“Chuck was looking for you. He wants to introduce you to his new girlfriend.”

“That dork has a girlfriend?” Gabriel burst into laughter. “Oh! Balthazar, this is Castiel.”

“Interesting name.” Balthazar smirked.

“’could say the same thing to you.” Cas said wryly.

Balthazar chuckled. “You here for the convention?”

“Kind of. My sister dragged me here.”

“Ah. I know the feeling, I have four.” Balthazar answered.

Gabriel stood up. “’a should probably get back to the party. Wanna come, angel face?”

Cas looked slightly interested. “Party?”

“Uh huh. VIP only.” Gabriel winked.

“I don’t know...” Castiel frowned. He should probably go and find out where his sister had disappeared to.

“There’s an open bar.” Balthazar grinned.

Cas stood up in a flash. “Count me in.”

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

It was 1 a.m., and surprise surprise, Dean was pretty drunk. Sam and Bela were dancing in the middle of the room to the sound of Chuck singing. Chuck’s new girlfriend, Becky something-or-other, was hopping around like an energizer bunny taking pictures and videos of everyone. She was especially interested in Sam- Dean was kinda creeped out.

Dean sighed into his beer bottle, bored. Okay, maybe more lonely than bored. Ever since Bela and Sam had started dating, Dean had become painfully aware at how many friends he had, or rather, didn’t have. He missed Charlie. He even missed Jo, kinda. Dean finished his beer, and picked up his guitar from the floor next to him. Turning to lie down on the couch he was sitting on, head resting on the uncomfortable arm rest, he started to strum absentmindedly on the guitar. He would even take the company of Samuel, the stuffy assistant director, right now; that’s how bored he was.

“The party has returned!” Came a loud voice, breaking Dean from his thoughts with a groan. He didn’t even need to look to see that it was Gabriel that had walked in, most likely with Balthazar and an optional stipper or two, with a bottle of flavoured vodka in his hand. He would bet his left lung that it was cherry flavoured.

“Chuck, my man! This is Cas.” Gabriel shouted from the other side of the room. Dean didn’t bother to open his eyes, trying to concentrate on the guitar rather than the loud mouth with the candy fetish.

A few minutes later, Dean heard the sound of Chuck getting on the make-shift stage near the fold away bar. “Um. So we’re going to do karaoke, for some reason. Gabe is gonna sing for us. I’m uh, gonna go to bed now.”

“Helloooo!” Gabriel’s voice came a minute later, even louder through the microphone. Dean sighed. “I’m going to sing uh… Paint it black! It’s dedicated to my new friend angel face.”

 _Who the hell is angel face_? Dean thought. _Probably one of Gabe’s pet strippers._

“It would be really cool if someone came to do a duet with me. Sam? No? How about you, Balth?” Silence met Gabriel’s question, making him whine into the mic. “Angel face? Will you come sing with me?”

“Cas was singing at the karaoke party earlier!” Becky chimed in. Someone groaned.

“C’mon, Cas!” Gabriel prompted. “Caaaas!” Dean could hear the pout in Gabriel’s voice; he felt sorry for whoever this Cas girl was.

There was a sudden bout of cheering, Dean presumed that Cas had accepted Gabriel’s pleas to join him on stage. Moments later, the guitar intro for Paint it Black was playing.

“ _I see a red door and I want it painted blaaack.”_ Gabriel sang. Dean’s eyes were still closed. He wished he could close his ears the same way. “ _No colors any more, I want them to turn black, I see the girls walk by, dressed in their summer clothes…”_ Calling what Gabe was doing singing was putting it lightly. “Cas! Join in.”

 _Great. Some whiny stripper girl, why did I agree to come here again_? Dean groaned internally.

 _“I have to turn my head until the darkness goes_ …” A voice sang; but it wasn’t Gabriel, and it definitely wasn’t a girl. The voice was the first thing Dean noticed; like gravel and leather and cigarettes and coffee and _sex._

Dean’s eyes flew open, his gaze narrowing in on the stranger on the stage.

Dean was fucking fucked. For one thing, his eyes were blue. Not Benny blue, but so blue that Dean could see them from across the room. The second thing was his fucking dark brown _sex hair,_ which looked like he’d been pummelled into the mattress just five minutes before. Thirdly? The guy was basically a fucking twink, no older than twenty four _at a push._

Dean was almost salivating. He’d never wanted anyone so bad in his life.

If he had any doubt before now; he was definitely, _definitely_ into dudes.

“Dean-o! I didn’t see you over there!” Came Gabe’s sudden voice. Huh. The song must have ended.

“My plan must have been working, then.” Dean answered.

“Don’t be an ass! Come sing with us.”

Under any other circumstance, Dean would have laughed and told him to fuck himself; but Dean could feel the stranger’s eyes on him, and he felt himself shrug and walk over to the stage. Okay, maybe walk was an overstatement. Stumble was more the correct word.

When Dean got to the stage, he realised how high it actually was, but in typical Dean Winchester fashion, he tried to step up all by himself, and he could feel himself falling backwards until-

Castiel grabbed onto Dean’s shoulder, to stop him falling backwards, and gripped him tight and raised him onto the stage. He pulled slightly too hard, making Dean fall into him, so they were chest-to-chest, with Dean a few inches taller. Dean looked into Castiel’s eyes; which really, were unnaturally blue. They reminded Dean of the ocean. Castiel smiled at Dean with his fucking plush lips and Dean could not handle it anymore; one thing seeing the guy from across the room but having him in his arms? _Whole_ other story.

Dean gulped.

Castiel blinked, cocking his head confusedly. Dean realised he’d been standing there, chest-to-chest with Cas for quite a long time.

Dean smiled weakly, but instead of laughing it off like he would have done usually, he found himself turning around and running out of the room; not stopping until he reached his hotel room. He needed Charlie.

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

 

_Cas was in the library when it happened. His friend, or rather, friends with benefits, was sat next to him- his name was Inias._

_“Cassie, are you coming over tonight?” Inias had asked hopefully. Castiel was about to answer yes when his phone started ringing, earning a death glare from the librarian._

_“Excuse me, Inias, I should answer this.” Cas said, before rushing outside, not wanting to disrupt the other students in the library. His biology text books lay forgotten on the wooden table._

_“Hello?” Cas answered._

_“Castiel; it’s Michael.” Came a voice through the phone._

_“Oh. Hello Michael.” Castiel sighed internally. His phone calls with Michael were rare but tedious nonetheless._

_“I have some bad news.”_

_“What is it?”_

_“It’s mother.”_

_“You know, you could say this all in one sentence, so I don’t have to keep asking you.” Castiel rolled his eyes. He heard Michael sigh through the phone._

_“Mother is dead, Castiel.”_

_Cas gasped silently, eyes wide._

_“Castiel?” Michael asked. “Are you okay?”_

_Castiel ignored the question. “How is Claire?”_

_“She is- she is not taking it very well.”_

_“Where will she live?”_

_“She will be put into the foster care system.” Michael said simply._

_“What?! No way. Why can’t she live with you?” Castiel asked, furious._

_“You are joking, Castiel? That abomination is_ not _coming to live with me.” Michael snorted._

_“She is no abomination, Michael. She is our sister.”_

_“No, she is not. Her father was a disgusting, vile man and I do not wish to associate myself with either of them.” Michael said definitively. Claire’s father had died when she was young; leading to her living with her mother. Castiel did not have the same father, but they all had the same mother. Had being the definitive word._

_“So you’re just going to wash your hands of her, is that it?”_

_Michael was silent._

_“You are disgusting, Michael. She will come live with me.”_

_“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re in college; you have no time to look after a child.”_

_“Claire is not a child! She’s thirteen, and she will come live with me.”_

_“Your funeral, Castiel. Now, you are coming down for the will reading, yes?”_

_“Sure. What about a funeral?”_

_“I have no time for a funeral, Castiel. She will be cremated or something.”_

_“You are heartless.” Castiel huffed._

_“No, Castiel. I am a business man.”_

 

 ★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

Cas’ head was pounding when he woke up- the heat of another body radiating into his back.

 

_Shit,_ Cas thought. _What happened last night?_

Cas opened his eyes slowly, and noticed that the person next to him was Gabe; Cas could tell by the bracelets on the arm wrapped around his middle. _He was spooning Gabe!_

With a relieved sigh, Cas realised they were both still wearing clothes; except that Cas’ shirt was miraculously gone. Slowly, he peeled himself from Gabriel’s embrace and sat at the end of the bed. The clock blinking on the nightstand said it was ten a.m.

“Angel face?” Gabriel grumbled from behind him. Castiel rolled his eyes.

 

“Go back to sleep, Gabby.”

 

“But Sammo and them lot are coming over this morning.” Gabriel protested, but his eyelids were fluttering already.

 

“Well they’re not here yet, are they?”

 

Gabriel was already asleep.

 

Unfortunately, it was at that moment the hotel room door swung open, revealing a fresh-as-a-daisy looking Dean Winchester. His eyes widened when he saw Castiel sitting shirtless at the bottom of the bed, sex hair even worse than it had been the night before. Dean gulped.

 

“Uh- shit. I’m sorry, I ah- Sam told me to come here?” Dean explained, his voice higher than it was usually.

 

“This- this isn’t what it looks like.” Cas managed to get out, his voice even deeper than usual because of the singing he’d been doing last night.

 

Dean’s tongue darted out to wet his lips.

 

“Uh, it’s okay, I don’t care, dude. Gabe can fuck whoever he likes. Is Sam here?”

 

“Really, Dean, nothing happened between Gabriel and I. Why do you not believe that?”

 

“You’re kidding, right? Why wouldn’t he fuck you? Gabe loves cute twinks like you. Wait- I mean, shit. That didn’t come out right.” Dean’s ears were turning pink.

 

Castiel blushed. “You- you think I’m a cute twink?”

 

“Look, I’m sorry for walking in on you and Gabe, okay, whether something happened or not. So, is Sammy here or not?”

 

Castiel shook his head. “Gabriel mentioned he would be coming here later. “

 

“Right. Okay. I’m gonna go now.”

 

“You don’t have to.” Castiel offered, eyes bright.

 

“Look, I’m sure you’re a great guy and all but seriously? Do you have a checklist of actors you wanna fuck before this weekend is over or somethin’? ‘Cause I don’t fuck fans, kid.” Dean said, angrily. He wasn’t even sure why he’d snapped at the boy, it wasn’t his fault that he was making Dean act like a school boy with a crush.

 

“I wasn’t- maybe you should leave now.” Cas said, eyes downward.

 

“So you’re shy now, huh?”

 

Cas raised his eyes to look at Dean; they were full of hurt that made Dean’s chest hurt. “I thought it was just the magazines that made you seem like an asshole, but now I know it’s just all you.” Castiel snapped.

 

“Look, I don’t need some fucking kid come and tell me I’m an asshole, asshole!” Dean exclaimed.

 

“I’m an asshole? I didn’t even do anything! All I was trying to do was tell you you could wait here for your brother to arrive. I did not sleep with Gabriel and I wasn’t trying to sleep with you and your hate towards me is completely unjustified!” Castiel exploded, standing up and walking towards Dean. The height difference was more obvious today, Dean thought, and Cas’ lithe body was small compared to Dean’s. It made Dean hate Cas even more.

 

But, as they say, there’s a fine line between love and hate.

 

With one last glare directed towards the blue eyed menace, Dean stormed out of the room.

★               ★                ★

Cas fidgeted with his packet of Marlboro Lights as he stalked down the hotel corridor. He wasn’t angry; even though he wished he was. He _should_ be angry. Dean Winchester was an asshole for no apparent reason; that means Cas should be angry at him, right?

 

“Are you okay?” Came a voice suddenly. Cas turned to see one of the maids, her face full of concern.

 

“Yeah, perfect.” Cas grinned, putting on his convincing happy face like he had become accustomed to.

 

The maid seemed wary, but smiled anyway. Her eyes drifted to the packet of cigarettes in his hands. She took a conspiratory step forward.

 

“You know, the roof is a great place to have a cigarette. The view is unrivalled.” She said. She gestured to a door at the end of the corridor.

 

Castiel gave her a grateful smile. “Thanks.” Castiel said, before heading towards the door. He glanced back at the maid to notice she was checking out his ass in his tight skinny jeans. _Sorry,_ Castiel thought. _You don’t play for my team._ Castiel smirked as he walked through the door and up the stairs to the roof.

 

The sight that met Castiel once he got to the roof was not one he expected, but one so typical he almost laughed.

 

Dean Winchester was sat on a dark wicker chair, smoking weed, his legs kicked up on a similar chair in front of him.

 

_This is just my luck,_ Cas thought.

 

Dean’s eyes widened when he noticed Castiel come through the metal door to the roof. “How do you even know about this place?” Dean narrowed his eyes.

 

“I stalked you up here.” Cas quipped.

 

“Dude, that’s cree-”

 

Castiel rolled his eyes. “You are so gullible. Some maid told me about it.”

 

Dean paused. “Brunette? Green eyes?”

 

Cas nodded.

 

There was an awkward silence, and Cas turned towards the door to leave, but was stopped by Dean’s voice.

 

“Look, man. I’m sorry about earlier. I was a dick.”

 

Castiel raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? I hadn’t noticed.”

 

“Hey, I’m trying to be nice here.”

 

“Continue.” Cas smirked.

 

“I’m just going through shit and I was an asshole to you for no reason, and I’m sorry, okay? I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

 

“What kind of shit?”

 

“Kid, if we had enough time to spare I’d tell ya, but sadly I can’t clear up three years from my planner.” Dean smiled bitterly, taking a drag from the joint in his hand.

 

“Why do you keep calling me kid? I’m twenty two.”

 

“Yeah, and I’m thirty one.”

 

“Just because you’re older doesn’t make me a kid.”

 

Dean shrugged. “Guess not.”

 

There was another silence as Dean took another drag of the joint, before suddenly swinging his legs down from the chair. He gestured for Cas to sit there, who complied without hesitation.

 

“Want some?” Dean offered, holding out the joint. Cas took it. He’d done it before- the first time when he was sixteen. He had wanted to be like his brother Lucifer. Cas remembered that his mother was always shouting at Lucifer for having drugs in the house.

 

Cas took a few drags, and they sat there in silence. The sounds of cars and people could be heard but were somewhat muffled; being so high up made it seem like they were in a completely different place. Almost like heaven, Cas thought fuzzily.

 

“You know, I’m not one of those fans that tries to sleep with all of the actors.” Cas said after a while, giving Dean a wry smile.

 

“No?”

 

“Nope,” Cas shook his head. “I’m barely even a fan.”

 

Dean raised an eyebrow at that, grinning, before clapping a hand over his chest. “Oh, I am _wounded._ ”

 

Cas chuckled, passing the joint back to Dean.

 

“Why are you even at this con if you don’t like the show?” Dean frowned.

 

“My sister wanted me to go with her.”

 

“Younger siblings, eh? Annoying shits but you can’t help but love ‘em.”

 

Cas smiled with agreement.

 

“At least say you’ll be at my panel later on, or I might have to throw myself off of this building.”

 

“I’ll be there.” Cas laughed. “I might even be in your photo ops after that, too.”

 

“Thank God. I wouldn’t have jumped, really. Would ‘a made too much of a mess on the street. When I die, it will be with style.” By now, Dean had finished the first joint and was lighting up a second; he must have rolled them before Cas had come up to the roof.

 

“There is no way to die with style.” Cas argued, accepting the new joint when Dean offered it.

 

“I beg to differ.”

 

“Give me an example, then.”

 

“Uh- well. There was that guy that wanked himself so many times that he died because of it.” Dean offered.

 

Cas burst into laughter. “Dean, that hardly counts as _style.”_

 

“Okay, mr picky. How about having sex with so many chicks you pass out and die?”

 

“That’s not likely, Dean.” Cas rolled his eyes.

 

“Sure it is! Haven’t you ever banged a chick and had it so good you thought you were gonna die?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Wait- you’ve never had sex? Are you a _virgin?”_ Dean asked with wide eyes, making Cas laugh.

 

“I didn’t say I’ve never had sex- I said I’ve never had sex _with a girl.”_ Cas watched Dean’s face for a reaction, but the man’s face stayed neutral.

_“_ Wha- _oh._ Okay _.”_

“Seriously? Okay? That’s all you’re thinking right now?”

 

Dean suddenly blushed furiously.

 

“What?” Cas cocked his head to the side.

 

“I- was uh. If I’m being honest, my first thought was I bet a lot of guys want you.” Dean rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“Because I’m a _cute twink?”_ Castiel teased, using Dean’s previous words against him.

 

“Yup.” Dean grinned, dazzling Castiel for a second. When Dean was actually happy, his smile was blinding.

 

“You know,” Cas mused, “You’re different to how I imagined you were.”

 

“How so?”

 

“Well, you always seemed so cocksure, confident and all macho and kinda fake.”

 

“Fake? I’ll have you know my breasts are one hundred percent natural!” Dean gasped with mock anger.

 

“Don’t tell anyone, but that’s just my public shit. I act differently depending on who I’m with and how much I like them.” Dean confided.

 

Cas smiled and batted his eyelashes. “Does that mean you like me, Dean Winchester?”

 

Dean rolled his eyes. “Shut up.” He said gruffly.

 

“You _like-like_ me, Dean Winchester! Oh, I’m going to tell _all_ my friends about this. Are you going to court me now?”

 

Dean tried to hold in his laughter but it was physically impossible.

 

“Cas, you are-” Dean began, but was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing.

 

“Hello?” Dean answered. “Yeah, okay. See ya.”

 

Dean stood up, sending Cas an apologetic look. “I gotta go meet Sammy. I’ll uh, see you at my panel?”

 

“Well, it’s more likely I’ll see you and you won’t see me, but okay.” Cas grinned.

 

“Sure I’ll see you, doofus. You’re like a beacon of shining light, impossible to miss.”

 

“Shut up, assbutt.”

 

“Oh, assbutt! Consider me burned!” Dean hooted.

 

Cas threw him the finger, and Dean retaliated by blowing a kiss before he disappeared through the door.

 

Cas was sat there for another five minutes until he realised he was still smiling.

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

Dean danced onto the stage with a bright smile, waving at the audience. He told himself he was not looking for Cas; and it was just a coincidence that the first person his gaze fell on was the blue eyed man. It wasn’t Dean’s fault he was sat in the front row.

 

“Hey guys!” Dean said once he’d sat down. “How d’you like Chicago con so far?”

 

The audience cheered in response.

 

“Good, good. I hope no one is too hungover from last night.” Dean paused, before his eyes seeked out Cas in the audience once again. “I’m talking to you, blue eyes. I heard you were a drunk menace in the karaoke party last night.”

 

_Goddamn it,_ Dean chided himself, _thirty seconds into the panel and I’m already talking to Cas. Shoot me now._

In the front row, Castiel’s face was ablaze as Claire elbowed him in the ribs, hissing _how the hell are you so friendly with Dean Winchester?_

“No, but I’m glad you guys are enjoying, but I guess I should stop rambling and get to the questions, huh? Anyone got one?”

 

“How did you get yourself into the mindset for Jensen this season? With him turning into a demon and all, it must have been different.” A fan asked from the question stand.

 

As Dean started explaining, his eyes drifted back to Cas in the audience, and was disappointed to see the guy was fiddling with his phone. Dean frowned.

 

“What happened with you and Jo Harvelle?” Was the next question.

 

“Jo and I didn’t work out, unfortunately, but we’re still good friends.” Dean answered.

 

“Are Lisa Braeden’s allegations about you true?” Came the next question, and the room seemed to go completely silent. Dean gulped. Once again, his eyes flicked to Cas. His blue eyes were zeroed in on Dean intensely.

 

“Her allegations that I’m good in bed? Those are completely true, yes.” Dean grinned with a flirty wink, earning laughs. He let out a subtle sigh of relief. He was not ready to open that can of worms yet.

 

“Can you tell us about the new character coming next season?”

 

“Well, there’s going to be a new character who will be close friends with Jensen and Jared. He’s a guy, named Dmitri. He hasn’t been cast yet, but boy,” Dean breathed with mock excitement. “I hope he’s dreamy!” He finished with a girly voice.

 

There was a few more questions about the show after that and how Jensen was going to change after becoming a demon, but all Dean could think about was the fact that Cas was back to fidgeting on his phone. Was he bored of Dean? Was he just pretending to be nice on the roof?

 

“So if you’re not with Jo anymore, does that mean you’ve got your eye on another girl?”

 

Dean grinned easily. “Nope, I haven’t got my eye on another chick.” He said, subtly emphasising the chick part, knowing no one would pick up on it.

 

“The look on your face says differently.” The girl that asked the question smirked. Dean looked at her, the way she was twiddling her pink-tipped blonde hair in her fingers and smirking at Dean. She looked like she was up to something. Her blue eyes blinked at him innocently, looking slightly familia-

 

Dean realised with a start that it was Castiel’s sister, if the empty seat beside him was anything to go by.

 

“What can I say? Cross my heart, guys. I have my eyes on no girl. I have all the girls I need right here.” Dean said, opening his arms to the room. The fans cheered.

 

“Funny how you kinda emphasised the girl part, huh?” The fan smirked, before sliding back to her seat. Dean gaped, but it didn’t seem like anyone had caught on except for her.

 

The next question he’s asked is; “What is your ideal type of partner?”

 

“Looks or personality?” Dean asked, stalling as he quickly tried to come up with an answer.

 

“Both.”

 

“Well, uh. Looks isn’t that important but I’m known to be partial to blue eyes and dark hair, as my brother has pointed out before, but I’m not picky. Personality is much more important, in my books. They’d have to be someone with _spunk,_ y’know? Someone who will keep me on my toes. Someone funny, down to earth, not too clingy, not mean or a dick. Just the simple stuff.” Dean grinned.

 

“Would you date a fan?”

 

“I haven’t before, but I don’t see why I wouldn’t, if I met someone special.” Dean winked. The girls in the audience cheered.

 

When Dean looked to the front row, Castiel was nowhere to be found.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

 

_“You’re such an emo slut, Claire. No wonder your mom killed herself, she probably did it to get away from you.” Emily spat, her brown eyes narrowed on the girl in front of her._

_“Oh shut_ up, _Emily. At least I don’t stuff my bra.” Claire smirked, but her eyes were full of panic. Emily had her lackeys with her; Sophia and Lucy, and Claire had no one on her side. If Emily decided to get physical, Claire would definitely lose._

 

“ _At least I don’t have to dye my hair to look like a period to get people’s attention.”_

_“No, all you do is fuck the entire basketball team for attention.”_

_Emily looked outraged as she pushed Claire up against the lockers, holding the collar of her shirt so tight it was almost choking Claire._

_“Shut the fuck up, you loser bitch. Just follow in your mother’s footsteps and kill yourself.”_

_“Why don’t you follow in_ your _mother’s foot steps and become the town bike?”_

Okay, I deserved that _, Claire thought after the first punch._

_When it was over, Claire was left a bleeding mess on the ground as she rang Castiel to pick her up._

_“That’s it, Claire. I’m going to the principal.” Castiel said as he helped her into his car. “This has been going on for too long.”_

_“No, Cassie. It’s okay.” Claire whispered._

_“Claire, you’re fifteen. You should be having the time of your life in school, not getting weekly beatings.”_

_“Shut up, Cas. Stop acting like my dad. You’re not. You’re not even my real brother.”_

_Castiel was silent the rest of the way home._

_That night, Claire curled up in her bed, watching Not Natural on her laptop. She may not have parents, or friends, but she had Not Natural. She had her tumblr blog and all her friends; she had the rest of the Not Natural Family. Some people might judge her and say that online friends aren’t_ real _friends, and they’re probably paedophiles pretending to be teenagers, but Claire didn’t care. Without them she would have gone crazy with loneliness by now._

_Every year at Thanksgiving, Claire was thankful for Not Natural. It might sound stupid; but sometimes when you’re depressed, all you need is a distraction. Not Natural was more than that to her; it was everything, and she wasn’t afraid to admit it._

 

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

★               ★                ★

 

After Claire found Castiel, they decided that they would try and be the last people in line for Dean’s photo ops; leaving them with more time to talk to Dean. Or rather, leave Cas with more time to talk to Dean. After a depressing thirty minutes after realising that Dean was obviously more into her brother than her, Claire had accepted her new role as match-maker. 

 

Imagine- Dean Winchester as her brother in law!

 

Claire didn’t really care, anyway. Dean Winchester was too old for her- and if she was honest, she thought Bela Talbot was much hotter. _Goddamnit_ , _all the cute people are unavailable,_ Claire thought with a frown. Then again, Bela was also too old for her, if she was honest. Claire was halfway to accepting that she would be alone forever.

 

“Can I see your passes, please?” Asked a voice suddenly. Claire turned to see a girl around her height; dimples visible as she smiled.

 

“Yeah, of course.” Claire said as she gave her the photo op ticket, along with Castiel’s pass. He wasn’t to be trusted with anything important like that; not after the Disneyworld debacle.

 

“So, you work here?” Claire asked as the girl checked the passes. The girl’s dark brown eyes flicked up to meet Claire’s; full of amusement. She tossed her light brown hair- which came down to her ass, Claire noted- over her shoulder with a shake of her head as she gave the passes back.

 

“You could say that. I’m Dean’s assistant.”

 

“Really? That’s so cool.”

 

The girl shrugged. “If following him to strip clubs and listening to him talk about nerd stuff all day long is what you count as cool, then I guess it is.”

 

“You sound like a great assistant to have.” Claire said. A small voice in the back of her head was mocking her- _flirting with Dean’s assistant, eh? Smooth, Claire._

_“_ CeeCee, stop flirting already, we’re nearly at the front of the line.” Castiel smirked from beside her, earning an elbow to the ribs from an embarrassed Claire.

 

The girl raised an eyebrow. “Your boyfriend?”

 

“Hardly,” Claire snorted. “He’s my brother, unfortunately. And my name’s Claire, not CeeCee.”

 

“Claire, huh? Pretty name. It suits you. I’m Nicole.”                                                      

 

 _Is she flirting?_ Claire asked herself.

 

“Nicole! We need you to check with Archie.” Shouted a voice from the other side of the room.

 

Nicole shrugged apologetically to Claire. “Duty calls. It was real nice to meet you, Claire.” She grinned, eyes twinkling.

 

“Y-yeah. You too.” Claire choked out. With a smile, Nicole spun around and disappeared out of the room.

 

“God, you’ve got it _bad.”_ Castiel whispered.

 

“Shut up, Cassie. You’ve got it bad for Dean fucking Winchester.”

 

“I have _not._ I barely know the guy!” Cas protested.

 

“Yeah, well-”

 

“Next, please!” Came a voice. Claire shot Castiel an excited look as they walked over to where Dean was stood. He looked tired.

 

“Hia.” Claire chirped. Dean looked up to see Claire and Cas approaching; his eyes visibly brightened.

 

“Was it you that I just saw making heart eyes at my assistant?” Dean teased, making Claire blush slightly. Claire walked over to where the mark signalled they should stand.

 

“Saw you disappear out of my panel earlier.” Dean said quietly to Cas.

 

Castiel shrugged. “I had to sort something out.”

 

Dean nodded. “So, uh. Got any ideas of how you want the picture to go?” He said, louder this time so Claire would hear too.

 

“I want Cas to stand here facing forward, then Dean I want you to lean on his left shoulder then I’m gonna stand here and look jealous.” Claire grinned with a mischievous look in her eyes. Her previous plan had been Claire hugging Dean with Cas looking guilty, but after her earlier realisation, she thought it would be better if Dean was with Cas.

 

“Sounds good.” Dean said, pulling Cas into position and leaning heavily against him, his whole body pressed against him from his head to his legs. Claire got into position and the picture was taken.

 

“Dean, what the _fuck_?” Came a sudden voice, loud and angry. Dean jerked away from Cas with surprise. Seconds later, Sam Winchester was bursting through the door with his phone clasped tightly in his hand.

 

“I knew you were an idiot but I didn’t think you were this stupid.” Sam shouted, stepping towards Dean aggressively.

 

“What the hell is going on?” Someone growled defensively; it was Nicole. She stepped between the brothers and placed a hand on Sam’s chest, keeping him away from Dean.

 

“Move, Nicole.” Sam muttered darkly.

 

“Nope. Tell us what’s going on right now or I’m calling fucking security.” Nicole demanded.

 

“Lisa Braeden is pregnant; and it’s Dean’s.” Sam announced.

 

The room was silent.

 

“What?” Dean’s broken voice asked after a moment.

 

“Well done, Dean. You’re going to be a fucking father.” Sam said simply. Nicole pulled away and looked at Dean with apprehension; expecting him to blow up any second.

 

Dean gulped, looking like he was going to throw up.

 

“Dean-” Sam began, but Dean shook his head hard, before pushing past her and running out of the room.

 

“Fucking Lisa Braeden.” Nicole sighed

★               ★                ★

“Angel face!” Gabriel exclaims, running towards Cas with determination. “Have you seen Dean-o anywhere?”

                             

Sam suddenly appears behind him, panting. “Shit, I need to find him.”

 

“Has he still not returned?” Cas frowned, cocking his head.

 

“Nope. We’ve been looking for hours.” Sam sighed.

 

“I will help you. I’m sure Claire will, too.” Cas offered. Sam and Gabriel smiled gratefully. Cas frowned. “I’m not sure where she is, though.”

 

“Thanks, Cassie. Sammo, you go find your girl and look around the strip clubs and bars in the nearby area. I’ll stay here and see if he comes back. Angel face, you look wherever you want, ‘cause he probably won’t stay in the same place we all need to be moving constantly.” Gabriel ordered. Sam nodded, pulling out his phone and jogging away with a small wave.

 

“And Cassie, don’t worry about your baby sis, I have it on good authority that Claire is in very good hands.” Gabe winked.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“Due time, angel face, due time.” Gabriel offered a smile to Cas before disappearing again.

 

 _Okay then;_ Cas thought, pushing the thoughts of Gabriel and his sister out of his mind. _Where would Dean hide_?

 

That’s when he remembered the spot they’d been at that morning; of course Dean would be on the roof. With the exception of Cas, no one even knew about it.  Cas was almost certain that Dean was there.

 

But would he want to be disrupted? He was obviously in a bad mood, and if he went to a spot that he knew no one would find him, he obviously didn’t want any one to find him.

 

But what if he did?

 

_I’ve got nothing to lose._

Cas made his way up to the roof hesitantly, with each step questioning his decision. For good measure, he had gone to his room and swiped a bottle of whiskey. When he found himself behind the metal door he knew the right thing was to do was find Dean. If Dean didn’t want him there then he could leave, right?

 

He forced himself to open the door and step out onto the roof before he could change his mind. Similar to that morning, Dean was sat on the wicker chair, but instead of being laid-back and calm, his body was tense and his head was in his hands. Cas doubted he even heard that someone had come onto the roof.

 

 

Cas quietly walked closer, bottle of whiskey tucked behind his back  out of sight.

 

“Dean?”

 

Dean jerked, his head shooting upwards. His eyes were red- he was either high or he’d been crying. Cas was betting on the latter. Dean was shaking, deep tremors wracking through his body; but Cas didn’t know if it was because he was cold, angry, panicking or all of the above.

 

“Go away, Cas.” Dean growled.

 

“Dean-” Cas began, but stopped. He didn’t want to argue with the man but it was obvious he wanted, no- _needed,_ someone right now. Cas sat down in the other chair, Dean’s eyes following his movement.

 

“Cas, if you’re here to psychoanalyze me or somethi-” Dean was about to tell Cas to fuck off when he saw what was in his hands.

 

Dean raised an eyebrow.

 

“Thought you might need this.” Cas said with a lopsided grin.

 

Dean was silent for a few moments, considering, before his face split into a large grin and he let out a bellowing laugh.

 

“You are an _angel.”_ Dean shook his head in disbelief, a smile on his face. “Damn. I am so glad it’s you here and not Sammy.”

 

“But he’s your brother.” Cas said, handing the bottle to Dean.

 

“So? Don’t mean I like his nagging.”

 

“Don’t you have other friends? You don’t seem like a loser.” Cas said.

 

“Wow, Cas, say what you really feel.” Dean chuckled as he drank. “I guess I don’t really have friends. That sounds pathetic, I know. I mean, Nicole is like a best friend to me but I _pay_ her, you know? And then there’s Benny, who’s cool but completely untrustworthy. He’ll blab any secret you tell him, I swear.”

 

Cas nodded along, but didn’t pry any further. This wasn’t going to be like some romcom where they both opened their hearts to each other and make out after knowing each other for a day.

 

“What about you, huh? Must be drowning in friends.” Dean grinned, but it didn’t really hit his eyes.

 

Cas shrugged. “Claire, I guess. Alfie, too, but we don’t really do much talking, to be honest.” Alfie, or Samandriel as his birth certificate stated, was Cas’ latest friends-with-benefits. Cas was going to break it off soon, however. He only started the thing with Alfie because he wanted to see what it was like to _not_ be the twink in the relationship, for a change. It turned out Cas much preferred to be a bottom.

 

“You don’t talk? What do you do, the- _oh._ I get it.” Dean said with realisation. “You seem more of a relationship type.”

 

“I will only date people I see a future with; some twink planning to be a doctor isn’t exactly my type. I think I’d rather commit suicide than marry a doctor. How boring would that be?” Cas shuddered.

 

“Uh, Cas? _You’re_ a twink planning to be a doctor. Kinda hypocritical don’tcha think?” Dean said with a dry chuckle.

 

“Yes, but I don’t _want_ to be a-” Cas’ eyes widened, before he backtracked. “Never mind, it’s just that he’s too similar for it to ever work.”

 

“What were you going to say? You don’t want to be a doctor?” Dean asked.

 

“Of course I do.” Cas snapped, before sighing. “It’s just, not my first choice is all.”

 

Dean nodded, but didn’t say anything, expecting Cas to carry on.

 

Instead, Cas changed the subject. “So, Lisa?”

 

Dean frowned. “It’s not mine.”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“I just know, okay?” Dean growled, then looked apologetic. “Sorry. Just, I thought she was cheating on me, y’know? This just confirms it.”

 

“How so?”

 

“I never had sex with Lisa, Cas.”

 

Castiel’s mouth dropped open. “What? _Why?”_

 

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realise it was a crime to not have sex with her.” Dean snapped.

 

“Dean-”

 

“I didn’t like her like that, okay? I liked her romantically, sure. I liked kissing her and dating her and shit. When it came to the sex stuff I wasn’t interested. I couldn’t get- never mind.”

 

“Don’t worry, it happens to every guy.” Cas said solemnly.

 

Dean and Cas contemplated each other for a second, before they both burst into laughter.

 

“Shut up, man. Has it happened to you?”

 

“Can’t say it has, but y’know, it doesn’t really matter seeing as my dick isn’t the main star in most of my shows.” Cas said, and Dean almost choked on his whiskey.

 

“You’re a bottom?” Dean coughed.

 

Cas frowned disbelievingly. “Do I _look_ like a top to you, Dean? Like you’ve said many times, I’m a twink.”

 

Dean looked like he was about to explode, but his eyes were cloudy. Of course, Cas didn’t realise Dean was stuck in dreamland, fantasising about said twink very vividly. “Just- ah. Can we change the subject?”

 

“Don’t like talking about me being ploughed in the ass?”

 

“Jeez, kid. You have a mouth on ya.”

 

“You should see how else I use it.” Cas winked, but seconds later he dissolved into laughter. “This sounds like the start of a freaking porno.”

 

“No, if it was a porno you’d be a pizza man.” Dean mused.

 

“Yes, and you’d be ordering the pizza with extra sausage.”

 

“And then I’d offer to share my sausage with you because I got too much.”

 

Cas laughed, but Dean was too busy studying the younger man to do anything- the way his nose scrunched up as he laughed would be stuck on the inside of Dean’s eyelids for weeks.  

 

Suddenly, Cas’ phone rang.

“Hello?”

 

Dean couldn’t hear who was on the other end, butDean gestured for him not to tell her they were with eachother.

 

“I’m uh- just um. Nowhere.” Cas blurted.

 

“Uh, yes. I’m not with him anymore.” Cas’ eyes darted to Dean’s- Cas knew he didn’t sound at all convincing.

 

Suddenly, Dean’s phone started ringing, Metallica blaring across the roof loudly. With a sigh, Dean checked to see who it was. If it was Sammy, he was not answering. Thankfully, it was only Nicole.

 

“Hello?” Dean asked.

 

“Never mind, see you later.” Nicole giggled, before hanging up. Dean frowned, puzzled.

 

“Cas, that was the pizza man. Extra sausage, right?” Dean said instead, pushing the weird phone call from his mind. Cas let out a giggle, trying to stifle it but failing miserably.

 

“Yes- yes later. Bye bye.”

 

“Who was it?” Dean asked casually.

 

“Claire. She asked about you. Who was on your phone?”

 

“Nic. She just said never mind and hung up.”

 

“Sounds kinda dodgy, don’t you think?” Cas tilted his head to the side.

 

“Yeah.” Dean frowned. “I’ll bet you it has something to do with Gabe, though.”

 

Cas chuckled, nodding in agreement.

 

“What’s up with you two, anyway?” Dean asked, nonchalantly.

 

“Me and Gabriel? Dean, I’ve told you before, nothing is, and ever will, happen between me and Gabe. He’s like the creepy uncle that annoys everyone at family gatherings.”

 

Dean guffawed as he heard that. “Oh man, I am so using that next time someone asks for a quote about him.” Dean paused. “So, last night? You just slept in his bed, nothing happened?”

 

Cas frowned at Dean’s questioning, confused, but answered anyway. “I was far too drunk to go back to my room. I couldn’t even remember which room mine _was._ Gabriel said that I told him I couldn’t go back to my room otherwise the hungry caterpillar was going to eat me.”

 

Dean laughed again, eyes crinkling in the corners. “It’s been a long time since I’ve laughed this hard, Cas. You’re killin’ me, man. You know, most people are scared of ghosts or vampires, not the _hungry caterpillar.”_

“Hey! It’s not like I’m actually scared of caterpillars.” Cas frowned defensively, but was struggling to hide a smile.

 

“What _are_ you scared of, then?” Dean asked.

 

“Falling. You?”

 

Dean hesitated. “Flying.”

 

They contemplated each other for a second, blue eyes meeting green.

 

Dean’s phone broke the silence; it was Lisa. He looked apologetically to Cas.

 

“I- I should probably get this. It’s Lisa.”

 

Cas nodded, trying to not feel the disappointment welling up inside of him. “Okay. I should probably find Claire, anyway.”

 

Cas got up and began to walk away, but was stopped by Dean’s voice.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“For what?” Cas asked with a tilted head.

 

“Don’t ever change, man.” Dean grinned, shaking his head, before answering the still-ringing phone.

 

Cas disappeared through the metal door, feeling like he was flying.

 

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★               ★                ★

“How is plan get Dean-a-boyfriend going?” Gabriel asked, sitting on the desk in Sam and Bela’s room. They’d called off the search for Dean and decided to tend to more important matters.

 

“Well, not much different to how it was going the last time you asked, to be honest.” Sam said from where he was stretched across the bed, Bela sat next to his head and resting on the headboard.

 

“Shut up, Samsquatch. We need to rehash now that we have new members.” Gabriel grinned, gesturing towards Nicole and Claire, squished together on the arm chair. They were both skinny and neither of them were over 5’6, meaning they fit comfortably together.

 

“Have we even found a suitable gentleman suitor for old Dean-o?” Bela asked with a frown.

 

Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Where have you been the past twenty-four hours? Of _course_ we have a suitable hunk for squirrel.”

 

“What have I missed?” Sam said, wearing twin confused expressions with Bela.

 

“Not you too, Sammo!” Gabriel gasped. “Girls, please clue these dimwits in on the shizznit.”

 

“Do you have to talk like some wannabe gangster?” Nicole snorted.

 

“Can someone tell us what’s going on?” Bela demanded, but without much malice in her tone.

 

“It’s my brother.” Claire said.

 

“Dreamy karaoke guy?” Sam asked. “With the sparkly eyes and messy hair?”

 

“Wow, Sam. Is there something you need to tell me?” Bela teased. “Because it sounds like you have a crush on this guy.”

 

“Yes it’s him, Claire bear over there’s brother; who Dean has been giving heart eyes for like _ever.”_

_“_ They met yesterday.” Nicole deadpanned.

 

“How do we even know that Dean is gay? I mean, I’m not denying the heart eyes and shit, but y’know. It’s Dean. Who’s saying anything is going to happen now that this Lisa shit has started?” Claire asked.

 

“I don’t think the baby is Dean’s.” Sam announced.

 

“What?”

 

“Every other girlfriend he had, he always tells me about his sexcapades just to annoy the crap out of me. With Lisa? Nothing. Most of the time he was complaining that she was busy with work.”

 

“Busy with work? Sounds like an affair, if you ask me.” Bela mused.

 

“Exactly.” Sam nodded.

 

“Anyway, back to the him-being-gay-thing. It’s obvious, isn’t it? I mean, he might not be gay gay, but he’s definitely bisexual, and he definitely has a thing for angel face.”

 

“Why do you say that?” Bela asked.

 

“Well, the heart eyes for one thing. Running away from him at the party last night like he’d seen a ghost, flirting in my hotel room this morning while I was pretending to sleep, and I would bet my left lung that they’re with each other right now.” Gabriel counted each point on a finger.

 

“Now? No way. I found Dean earlier and he looked like he wanted to rip off anyone’s head that would go near him. My bet is that he’s passed out from drinking too much whiskey somewhere.” Sam countered.

 

“Care to make the bet interesting, Samsquatch?” Gabriel grinned. “Twenty bucks says Dean and angel face are shacking up right now.”

 

“Fifty.” Sam said with confidence.

 

“Claire, ring up big bro and put it on loudspeaker. While you’re on the phone, Barbie girl over there will ring Dean and if they’re together, we’ll hear his ringtone and/or Dean in the background.”

 

“ _Barbie girl?”_ Nicole scoffed.

 

“Honey, have you ever even had a flaw in your life?” Gabriel said with a lisp.

 

“You sound so gay, Gabe.” Nicole rolled her eyes.

 

“Takes one to know one, sweets.” Gabriel winked. Nicole stuck out her tongue.

 

Claire took out her phone and rang Castiel, clicking the loudspeaker button.

 

“Hello?” Came Cas’ voice through the phone.

 

“Cassie! Where are you?” Claire said in a worried tone, which was in no doubt faked.

 

“I’m uh- just um. Nowhere.” Cas answered. He was obviously outside; the sound of wind strong through the phone.

 

Nicole and Gabriel rolled their eyes simultaneously at Castiel’s bad lying.

 

“Did you find Dean?” Claire asked, while nudging Nicole and gesturing for her to ring Dean.

 

“Uh, yes. I’m not with him anymore.”

 

Claire was silent as Nicole dialled Dean's number. Suddenly, they could hear the faint notes of a metallica song come over Claire’s phone.

 

“Hello?” Dean’s voice could be heard through both phones. Nicole and Claire exchanged surprised glances.

 

“Never mind, see you later.” Nicole blurted, hanging up.

 

“Okay, Cassie, I’ll see you later, then.” Claire said.

 

Cas suddenly giggled, yes _giggled,_ over the phone, and Claire was pretty sure he wasn’t laughing at her. “Yes- yes later. Bye bye.”

 

The group in Sam’s room dissolved into laughter as Claire hung up the phone.

 

“Pay up, Samsquatch.” Gabriel said, wiggling his eyebrows.

 

Sam grumbled and handed him the fifty dollars. “Okay, fine. Dean might have a thing for him.”

 

“Thank you for joining us, Mr Holmes!” Gabriel bellowed. “Now, for the plan. Claire, tell us about your Cassie.”

 

“He’s twenty-two, he’s in college and he’s going to be a doctor.” Claire grimaced.

 

Gabe stuck out a tongue in disgust. “ _Seriously?”_

 

“Well, that’s not what he wants to do. That’s what Michael and mom wanted him  to do and he just accepted it.” Claire told them, making Gabriel inch forward with interest.

 

“So, what does he want to do?”

 

Claire fidgeted. “This is going to sound completely bullshitted, but he wants to be an actor.”

 

“ _What?”_ Sam, Bela, and Gabe gasped at the same time.

 

“Ever since our older brother, Luke, became an actor, Cas has wanted to be one. But Luke was disowned for being an actor and Cas didn’t want that; thus the future career change. I don’t know why he’s still doing it, though. Our mother died years ago. I think he’s scared of failure.”

 

The group was silent for a few moments, until Gabriel jumped up with a small shriek. “Fucking _jesus,_ I am a mother fucking genius. I have an idea.”

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check out my tumblr, gabricl, or track the tag 'absconditum' to know when I update or to get news etc, or just subscribe! x


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait on this, guys! the next chapter will be up within two days, to make up for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **in this fic, Carver Edlund and Chuck Shurley are not the same person.
> 
> **nicole is not self-inserted, you'll see soon

_“Dean, are you home?”_

_Dean’s eyes opened slowly as he sat up from where he was lying on the couch. Sam suddenly came skidding into the room with a grin on his face, looking like an over-excited puppy._

_“Dean!”_

_“Jeez, Sammy, do you have to shout so much?” Dean groaned, running a hand through his scruffy hair._

_“Dean! Could you not be moody for one second?” Sam whined. Their dad had died a few months ago and Dean hadn’t been okay since. Even though they were fine and healthy, and they’d gotten a small apartment after selling a few of dad’s antiques; Dean was still moping. Most of the time, Sam didn’t understand why. Their dad had been an asshole and neither of them had liked him; Sam wasn’t sure why his death had affected Dean so much._

_“What is it, Sammy?” Dean sighed._

_“I got the part.” Sam shouted, his voice almost girlish with excitement._

_“Which part?” Dean asked, confused._

_“In that TV show!”_

_“What TV show?”_

_“Dean.” Sam said with a bitch face. “I told you. That Not Natural thing? I had an audition a few weeks ago? I got the part, jackass.”_

_“That’s great, Sammy! I’m so proud of you.”_

_“Wow. You’re taking this better than I thought you would.”_

_“Why wouldn’t I be happy?”_

_“Well, the whole filming-in-Vancouver thing.”_

_Dean stopped in his tracks. “What?”_

_“It shoots in Vancouver. I need to move there.”_

_“Vancouver, Sammy? That’s not even in America! No way am I letting you go to Canada by yourself.”_

_“This is my career, Dean! If you don’t like it then come with me.”_

_“Yeah, right, Sammy. What would I do in Canada, huh? Open a moose farm? I guess that would work out seeing as I’ve been living with a moose all of my life.”_

_“I don’t know! You could find a job some- oh my god.” Sam’s eyes widened into saucers._

_“What?” Dean asked warily._

_“My character on the show, Jared, has a big brother named Jensen which they haven’t cast yet, they’re really OCD about having the brothers look similar.” Sam rambled excitedly._

_“Your point is?”_

_“Do you not see where I’m going with this? You should audition for Jensen!”_

_Dean let out a bitter laugh. “Wow, Sam. Are you sure you don’t want to be a comedian instead?”_

_“I’m serious, Dean! You love to act. I remember you being in that TV ad. Dad isn’t alive to stop you anymore.”_

_“Sam-”_

_“Please, Dean? Just audition. For me?”_

_“Sam, I don’t kn-”_

_Sam gave Dean his best puppy eyed look, batting his eyelashes._

_Dean sighed in defeat. “Fine, bitch. But you so owe me.”_

_Sam grinned. “Love you, Jerk.”_

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

“How is everyone this morning?” Sam smiled at the crowd as they cheered in response. “How was your Saturday night?” More cheers.

 

“Where’s Dean?” A woman from the crowd shouted.

 

“I’m here!” Dean exclaimed, running on the stage with a flushed look on his face. No doubt he’d only woken up within the last twenty minutes.

 

“Hey, Sammy. Where’s the ball and chain?” Dean joked, more for the crowd than anything.

 

Sam gave Dean a bitch face paired with a sassy eye roll. “Har har, Dean. She’s right there.” Sam pointed off stage, to where Bela was stood with a coffee cup in one hand and the other raised, flipping Dean off.

 

“Love you too, Bel!” Dean waved. The crowd laughed on cue.

 

In the front row, Claire and Cas were sat, looking more awake than most of the crowd. After leaving Dean on the roof yesterday, the siblings had met in their hotel room and spent the night drinking with a few other fans, before going to sleep at 11pm. Claire had insisted they have an early night, for some reason. She’d been looking suspicious all night, smirking and giving Cas long, amused looks.

 

“Do you think he’ll mention the Lisa thing?” Claire whispered to her brother as Sam and Dean bantered back and forth on the stage.

 

Cas shrugged.

 

“Cassie, what aren’t you telling me?”

 

Cas sighed, remembering how Dean had confessed to him yesterday. “It’s not my place to say.”

 

“Cassie!” Claire whined, earning an elbow to the ribs from Cas.

 

“What’s the point in coming to this con if you’re not going to _shut up and listen to the panel?”_ Cas hissed.

 

Claire rolled her eyes, but turned her attention back to the men on stage.

 

“So, Gabe was hanging upside down,” Sam said around bursts of laughter, “And the policeman, who still had egg on his head, came up to us and Gabe fell on the ground and the gummy bears went _everywhere._ ”

 

“Every time I hear that story I die a little inside.” Dean shuddered.

 

“Shut up, Dean. Anyway, let’s move on to the next question.” Sam turned to the woman who was standing at the asking stand.

 

“Hi, I have a question for Dean.” The girl said.

 

“Go ahead.” Dean smiled, but it was a little tight around the edges.

 

“Is it true that Lisa Braeden is pregnant with your child?”

 

Dean’s smile evaporated, turning into a grimace. “I knew I wasn’t going to get though this panel without that coming up.” Dean sighed. “Yes, Lisa is pregnant, but it is _not_ mine. You heard it here first, folks.”

 

The crowd let out gasps in unison, sounding like one big inhale of breath, leading to shocked silence.

 

“How do you know it’s not yours?”

 

“Because… because I never slept with Lisa, so y’know, kinda biologically impossible.” Dean said with a forced chuckle.

 

“Dude! Your game is getting weak!” Sam teased, trying to break the tension. Seeing that it didn’t work, he moved to the next best option. “Next question, please?”

 

“Uh. I- um. Okay, I’m just going to come out and say this, what the _hell?_ Why did Lisa not want to sleep with you?” The fan asking the question asked, earning laughs from the audience.

 

Dean clutched his chest. “Ouch! I am _wounded._ What makes you think that it was her that didn’t want me?”

 

“Are you saying it was you that didn’t want to have sex with her?” Sam asked bewilderedly.

 

Dean looked sheepish. “Yeah. What’s wrong with that?”

 

“Nothing! Just, uh- doesn’t sound like you, Dean.”

 

“Why did you date her then?” The fan asked.

 

“Here’s a PSA, dudes. There’s a big difference between romantic and sexual attraction.” Dean announced with a grin. “Next question, please?”

 

“Dean, I think it’s time for our special guest, actually.” Sam said with a pointed look. 

 

“Sammy, what are you talking about?” Sam elbowed Dean in the ribs subtly.

 

“Everyone, welcome Carver Edlund! Our lovely producer, show runner and basically God.” Sam announced. “He’s going to be answering some questions.”

 

Carver Edlund bounded onto the stage with a grin and a wave.

 

“Hi!” Carver grinned.

 

The crowd cheered.

 

“I’m going to pretend that I was keyed in on this plan and say, hey Carver!” Dean said, patting the man on the back.

 

“Has anyone got any questions?” Carver asked a few minutes later, once the introductions were over.

 

A young man stepped up to the stand. “Could you tell us more about the new character coming next season?”

 

Carver smiled. “You know what? Dum and dummer here don’t even know much about him, but I’m going to be awesome and give you some spoilers.” He paused as the crowd cheered. “Well, there is one thing I know you guys will love; the new character will be badass, really hot and –wait for it- queer!”

 

The crowd screamed louder than they had done all weekend. Behind Carver, Sam and Dean shared a surprised look.

 

“And that’s not all,” Carver continued, “There will be a canonical relationship between two men. As for the new character, he will become very good friends with the boys on the show, maybe even more than friends.”

 

“Wait wait, you mean Sam, right?” Dean joked.

 

“Sure, Dean.” Carver grinned.

 

“Could you tell us more about the character?” Another fan asked.

 

“Well, his name is Dmitri. He’s not human. He will become very important to Jared and Jensen. Uh, I think that’s all I can say right now.”

 

“He hasn’t been cast yet, has he?” The same fan asked.

 

“Nope, we will begin casting soon but we have a very specific idea in mind and we will not stop until we’ve found the perfect man to play Dmitri.” Carver explained. “The man will have to be in his low twenties, lithe body, dark hair. While Jared and Jensen are real ‘american boys’, we want Dmitri to be a stark contrast to that.”

 

In the audience, Castiel listened with rapt ears. He was already jealous of whoever got to play Dmitri- being able to work with Sam, Dean and Gabriel was one thing, but it sounded like they were looking for someone like Cas and it was like salting a wound. Alas, Castiel had chosen a career in medicine, not acting. It wasn’t like he watched the show, anyway, so he wouldn’t have to watch the new guy getting all buddy buddy with Sam and Dean. Or rather, more than buddy-buddy. He hoped the gay relationship was between Dmitri and Jared.

 

“Will Jensen be getting a love interest next season?” Was the next question asked to Carver, who suddenly turned sheepish, sending weird looks toward Dean.

 

“I- uh. Okay. I might get fired for this but- okay I won’t get fired seeing as I created the show but still, anyway. Yes, Jensen will be getting a love interest.”

 

“Is is serious or a fling?” The fan asked with bright eyes.

 

“Jensen will have strong feelings for them.” Carver said awkwardly.

 

The gender neutral pronoun did not go unnoticed, but was not brought up. Behind Carver, Dean looked slightly awkward himself. This was the first he’d heard about a love interest and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

 

 _Shit,_ Dean thought. _What if I’m the one that has to kiss the new character?_

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

A few hours later found Cas and Claire in the lobby of the hotel, bags in hand, as Claire said her goodbyes to another fan she’d met. Cas was stood off to the side of her, fingers twitching against his bag strap, as he thought of the fact that he was never going to see Dean again; nor Gabriel, Balthazar or Chuck. He didn’t think he’d ever feel so sad leaving a convention. It was inevitable, though- he was a fan, and they were actors. It was like some weird, gay, modern version of Romeo and Juliet. He was just going to go home and forget about all of them-

 

“Angel face!” A voice bellowed from across the lobby.

 

Of course, Cas would never get off that easy.

 

“Did you really think you were going to be able to leave without saying goodbye to _me_?” Gabriel said, appearing from nowhere in front of Castiel.

 

“I was hoping.” Cas replied with a lopsided grin.

 

“Ouch. I thought we had a real connection, sparkle eyes.” Gabe mimicked getting stabbed in the stomach.

 

“Sparkle eyes? Wow, you’re nicknames are getting worse and worse.”

 

“Shut it, kitty cas. Oh! I like that one. What do you think, Samsquatch?” Gabriel asked, as Sam and Bela appeared next to them, designer suitcases trucking behind them.

 

“I think you’re a moron, Gabe.” Sam snorted.

 

“God, you are lucky you’re pretty, Samoose, because your personality sucks donkeys.” Gabriel said cheerfully.

 

“Hey! My p-” Sam began, but was cut off by Bela’s hand on his shoulder.

 

“Just accept it, love. You’ll only make it worse.” Bela said.

 

“Are we having a party in this lobby or something?” A new voice said; Nicole had joined them. Claire suddenly turned around to join the conversation, the fans she’d been talking to long forgotten. Cas noticed that Nicole, Claire, Gabriel and Bela were giving each other conspiring looks.

 

“So, Nicole.” Gabriel began, his voice full of mischief. “Where is _Dean Winchester_ on this fine afternoon?” Gabriel looked at Cas as he said Dean’s name.

 

“Oh, he’ll be here soon. He’s just getting his stuff. There’s no hurry, though. Our plane isn’t until ten.” Nicole replied.

 

“You’re flying?” Cas cocked his head, confused.

 

“Yeah, why?” Nicole looked equally confused.

 

“Isn’t Dean afraid of flying?” Cas asked.

 

The group, minus Claire, shared shocked looks.

 

“And how would _you_ know that, Casatron?” Gabriel smirked. Cas realised his mistake too soon.

 

“I-uh. I must have read it somewhere.”

 

“Riiiight.” Bela nodded with a smirk. “But unlike Dean and Nic over there, we have a flight in two hours.”

 

“Shit, we need to leave.” Sam exclaimed. “See you guys in Vancouver, and uh, Cas and Claire, it was nice to meet you. It probably won’t be the last time.”

 

Before anyone could ask Sam what he meant by that, Sam and Bela had already disappeared.

 

Gabriel waved after them, but his face morphed into panic. “Shit! I’m on the same flight as them. I better get going. Cassie baby, I’ll miss you.” Gabriel then  proceeded to throw himself at Cas, wrapping his legs around his hips and burying his head into his shoulder.

 

“Jesus, Gabe. Are you half koala bear or something?”

 

Of course, Dean Winchester would choose that moment to appear.

 

“Shut up, Dean-o. You’re just jealous of the special bond me and angel face share.” Gabriel put his legs on the ground but kept his upper half glued to Cas’.

 

“Oh, and here _I_ was thinking me and Cas had a special bond, too.” Dean sighed, in a faux-sad tone.

 

“Not as special as mine.” Gabriel pouted, finally stepping away from Cas.

 

“Maybe we should let Cas here decide.” Dean grinned, sliding towards the man in question and throwing an arm around his shoulders and batting his eyelashes at Cas. “You like me the best, right Cas?”

 

“No way he does! Cassie, we have a bond, don’t we?”

 

“I guess so,” Cas shrugged with a small smile, “But Dean and I do share a more profound bond.”

 

Dean grinned and punched the air with a hoot. “In your face, Gabe!”

 

“Gabe, don’t you have a plane to catch, anyway?” Claire reminded him from a few feet away, where she and Nicole had moved to talk properly.

 

“Shitballs! It was very nice to meet you Claire.” Gabriel lifted her hand and kissed it. “And Cassie, I am wounded that you like Dean more than me, but I love ya anyway. You’re like an annoying lil’ brother.” Gabriel placed a wet kiss on Cas’ cheek.

 

Cas grimaced, pulling away and wiping his face. “Bye, Gabe.”

 

Gabriel winked, before jogging out of the lobby.

 

“Nikki, what’s my schedule for today?” Dean asked his assistant, who pulled out her phone and read it quickly.

 

“Flight’s at ten, but you have an interview at five with a local radio station.” Nicole answered.

 

“What time is it now?”

 

“Four.”

 

“Dammit.” Dean cursed. He’d been hoping to ask Cas for a coffee before they left. Dean didn’t know why, but he liked talking to the weird, dorky guy.

 

As if reading his mind, Nicole smiled with sympathy. “Listen, Claire and I are going to go and chat for a minute, are you guys okay here?”

 

Dean brightened visibly. If it didn’t seem weird, he would grab her and hug her into next week. He had the best assistant ever. “Sure, Nic. You go and have your girl talk or whatever.”

 

Nicole grinned and grabbed Claire’s arm, skipping away and leaving Cas and Dean in the lobby.

 

“So…” Dean cleared his throat. “Did you have a good weekend?”

 

“Yeah-” Cas replied with a bright smile. “Yeah. It was great.”

 

“I’m glad. You think you’ll start watching the show now?”

 

Cas made a face, making Dean laugh. “It’s not that I don’t want to; to be honest I’m scared that if I start watching it I’ll become completely obsessed.” Cas admitted.

 

“What’s so bad about that? There are worse things to be obsessed about.”

 

“I’m studying to be a doctor, I don’t have time to be obsessed about anything other than medicine.” Castiel joked, but it came out flat.

 

“Look, dude. You obviously don’t like this doctor shit. Why don’t you pick a career path you actually want to take?”

 

“Dean, being a doctor isn’t so bad.” Cas sighed.

 

“Why don’t you just drop the act, Cas? You don’t have to pretend with me.” Dean frowned, placing a hand on Cas’ shoulder.

 

“ _I don’t know how!”_ Cas exclaimed helplessly.  

 

“Cas-”

 

“Don’t, Dean. I decided long ago I would become a doctor. Sometimes I wish things different but they’re not.”

 

“Did you decide? Or did someone else?”

 

“I-”

 

“Cas, you told me yesterday that being a doctor wasn’t your first choice. What is?”

 

“It doesn’t matter.”

 

“It does to me.”

 

“God, you are such a cheeseball Dean Winchester.” Cas chuckled. “An actor. I wanted to be an actor.”

 

“Past tense?”

 

“I would love to be an actor, but my family don’t believe it is a respectable profession. My brother Lucifer got disowned for pursuing a career as an actor, Dean.”

 

“Okay two things, one, you have a brother named _Lucifer?_ And two, fuck your family, Cas. You have Claire. Isn’t it better to be happy and free, than stuck in a job you don’t like?”

 

“What would you choose, Dean? Freedom, or independence?”

 

Dean was silent.

 

“I should go.” Cas sighed. “Claire and I are driving back to Pontiac tonight and I want to be home before dark.”

 

“Cas, you-” Dean began, but was silenced by a look from Cas.

 

“Well, I, uh. It was nice meeting you.” Dean said.

 

“You too, Dean.”

 

Dean pulled Cas into a tight hug, pressing their chests together.

 

“Aw, how cute.” Claire’s voice came from behind them, causing them to pull away from each other.

 

“Oh god, if you two get engaged I am not helping with the wedding planning.” Nicole groaned. Dean elbowed her in the ribs.

 

“Claire, we’re leaving now.” Cas announced. Claire frowned, but nodded in agreement.

 

“Okay. Bye, Dean. See you on TV!” Claire grinned. “Nicole; hit me up on skype sometime, okay?”

 

The girls hugged.

 

“I don’t think it’s us that have to worry about getting married.” Dean chuckled as he watched them.

 

Claire rolled her eyes, but her cheeks were flushed pink. “C’mon, Cas.” Claire linked her arm through Cas’, and with a few ‘bye!’s thrown over their shoulders, they were gone.

 

“And then there were two.” Claire deadpanned as soon as the siblings were out of sight.

 

“You miss her already, don’t you?” Dean teased.

 

“As much as you miss him.”

 

“God, you are annoying.”

 

“Don’t take your angst out on me, lover boy.”

 

Dean sighed, but didn’t answer. Claire placed her hand on his shoulder.

 

“You’ll see him again, Dean. Don’t worry.”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“When it’s meant to be, it will be.”

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

A few days later, a meeting was being held in Vancouver. Or rather; Gabriel and Sam had barged into a meeting that was being held by Carver.

 

“Have you started casting for Dmitri yet?” Gabriel asked, slamming his fist on the table.

 

“God, Gabe. Don’t be so dramatic.” Sam said, pulling him backwards.

 

“No, we haven’t.” Carver replied.

 

“Great. We know the perfect guy for Dmitri.” Gabriel grinned wolfishly. A few of the casting directors and producers shared un-amused glances.

 

“Mr Trickston, you know how picky we are with our casting…”

 

“No, you don’t understand. He is perfect for the role.” Sam said, handing Carver a folder. Inside was endless information about their chosen actor, along with a tape of the man acting in a play at age eleven. It wasn’t much proof to show the man could act; but Sam hoped it was enough.

                                                                                                

“And you should see him interact with Dean. The room practically sizzles with chemistry.” Gabriel added.

 

“His file seems promising.” Carver mused, pulling out a photo. “He certainly does look like the type we wanted.”

 

Carver showed the photo to a few of the other men, who nodded in agreement.

 

“I like him.” A bald man said from the end of the table.

 

“Okay, Gabriel. I’ll bite. We’ll let the guy audition before anyone else. If he can act as good as he looks, then we might not need to hold any more auditions after that.” Carver smiled.

 

Sam and Gabriel traded excited looks.

 

“We’re putting a lot of faith into this, boys, don’t let us down.” One of the producers said.

 

“We won’t.” Sam said with finality.

 

“Who is this miraculous fellow, anyway?” One of the lesser important men asked, having not seen the file.

 

“Castiel Novak.” Gabriel grinned proudly. “And he’s going to be our new star.”

 

★               ★                ★

 

                                                                                                


	7. Chapter 7

_“_ Are we really going to cast this guy because Gabriel and Sam want him?” One of the casting directors asked Carver. They were sat in Carver’s office, untouched coffee on the desk in front of them.

 

Carver pursed his lips and flicked a pen absentmindedly between his fingers. “He could have potential.”

 

“We don’t even know this guy can act, Edlund!”

 

“You know acting isn’t everything in this business, Bill.” Carver paused. “Forget I said that. Anyway, you heard Gabriel. He has chemistry with Dean, the cast already loves him and appearance wise, he’s exactly what we have in mind for Dmitri and you know it.”

 

“Fine, I won’t deny that physically he is perfect for the role. That doesn’t mean he even wants to do it! Has Gabriel even told him that he wants him to play the part?”

 

Carver shrugged. “I don’t know why, but there’s something about this Castiel.”

 

“Fine, but I want this audition soon. I don’t want to put the real casting on hold for much longer.” Bill frowned.

 

Carver sighed, pressing the buzzer on his desk. “Send Gabriel in here, Nancy.” He said into the speaker.

 

A few minutes later, Gabriel jogged in with a smirk on his face. “Yes, boss?”

 

“Gabriel, tell this friend of yours that he has an audition on Saturday, 2pm. If he doesn’t show or if we don’t like him, we’re beginning normal casting on Monday. If we do like him, we’ll hire him. That agreeable to you?” Carver asked. Gabriel lit up, grinning like a beacon.

 

“Sure is! He’ll be there.”

 

“Make sure he is.” Bill said gruffly. “We don’t want to be disappointed.”

 ★               ★                ★

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ★               ★                ★

Castiel stormed through the door to his apartment, stress laced into every step. His laptop bag, satchel, cup of coffe and cellphone were being juggled between his arms, and coupled with his kitten-adorned sweater he looked silly to say the least. Or rather, that’s what Claire thought when she saw her brother walk in like that.

 

“Seriously, Cassie. You’re overworking yourself.” Claire sighed. She was leaning against the kitcken counter, absentmindedly eating from the carton of Chinese take-out in front of her. Cas stumbled into the kitchen with a growl, throwing his things down onto the table.

 

“I am not overworking myself, Claire.” Cas snapped. “This is what happens when you choose the medicine track of life.”

 

“You know, usually people put themselves through that because they know that at the end, they’ll be an amazing doctor and they’ll get their dream job. But you? What are you going to get from it?”

 

“Don’t talk about what you don’t understand.” Castiel sighed, as he jumped onto the counter and took the other take-out carton from Claire.

 

“You’re right, I _don’t_ understand. You only wanted to be a doctor because mother wanted you to. Now what? She’s _dead,_ Cassie. You don’t have to do this anymore!” Claire exclaimed. They’d had this conversation so many times, it wasn’t likely that she’d be able to change his mind. She never had before.

“What do you suggest I do, Claire? Drop out of college and join the circus?” Castiel snapped, but there was no bite to his bark. If he was honest, he didn’t want to be a doctor. Not at all. He might have in the past, but now imagining

Being a doctor for the rest of his life, until he retired, was so dull it was almost painful.

 

“I suggest that you do what you want to do.” Claire concluded.

 

“What do I want?”

 

“To act.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous. Do you know how hard it is to become an actor, Claire? All those auditions, possibly hundreds without even getting a role! And look at Lucifer. He left home to be an actor, and what came of him? Have you heard of Lucifer Novak, the big movie star! No!” Castiel shouted, desperation and hopelessness wound into his tone. Claire, however, looked slightly awkward.

 

“Actually…”

 

“What?”

 

“Lucifer. He is a movie star.” Claire said sheepishly.

 

“Yeah, right.”

 

“I’m serious, Cassie. I heard mother talking about him once to Michael. The reason you haven’t heard his name is because he changed it.”

 

“What?” Casitel whispered, face white as a sheet.

 

“His name is Mark Pellegrino.” Claire announced, scanning Castiel’s face for his reaction.

 

“ _The_ Mark Pellegrino? Shut up, Claire. I’d recognise him if it was.” Cas scoffed, his mind reeling.

 

“Would you? Do you even remember what he looks like? It’s been years since you’ve seen him! It _is_ him, Cassie. ”

 

Castiel did not answer.

 

“Face it, Cassie. You’re just trying to make up ridiculous excuses why you shouldn’t go after your dreams, and they’re all fucking stupid.”

 

“ _Language,_ Claire!”

 

Claire sighed. “I just don’t want you to live a life you don’t want.”

 

“I appreciate that, Claire, I really do.” Cas mumbled awkwardly. “I’m going to go do some work.” He announced, and before Claire could even protest, Cas had disappeared into his room.

 

Cas threw himself down on his bed, pulling his laptop with him and powering it up. Once it had loaded, he opened google and searched Mark Pellegrino. Opening up the first image, he studied it carefully.

 

It was his brother, without a doubt. Castiel could tell by the eyes.

 

He wondered how he had missed it for all these years, but then realised it wasn’t a surprise seeing as he barely watched tv or movies. He _had_ heard the name Mark Pellegrino, however. It was impossible to have not, he was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

 

Cas didn’t know what to believe anymore. For years, he had convinced himself to not pursue an acting career, because if Lucifer hadn’t made it big, then there was no way Castiel would. But now? He didn’t have any excuses left.

 

Okay, maybe he had one big one; he was fucking scared as hell.

 ★               ★                ★

 

“That’s a wrap for today, guys!” The director shouted, and Dean sighed with relief as his make-up artist came up to wipe the blood off of his face. He loved this job with all of his heart, but they used way too much blood. It was probably necessary, though, seeing as Jensen got into so many fights and it would be weird to see him without blood for even one episode.

 

“Dean!” Sam suddenly shouted from somewhere behind him.

 

“Son of a bitch.” Dean muttered, turning on his heels and trying to walk away, but with all of the set assistants and crew around it was like running in the ocean. Sam easily caught up to him. Damn metre high legs.

 

“Dude, why are you trying to run away from me?” Sam demanded, but there was a smile on his face.

 

 

“Probably something to do with his pathetic tweets.” Bela smirked as she walked past them, her assistant scrabbling behind her.

 

Sam chuckled, but Dean scowled with embarrassment. “They didn’t even mean anything. I just like Led Zeppelin, is that a crime?” He defended, but he couldn’t even convince himself. He’d been feeling like a mopey bastard ever since ChiCon, and he had a pretty good theory as to why.

 

“Have you heard the news?” Sam asked, a grin on his face, as they made their way to their trailers.

 

“What news?”

 

“Who they’re going to cast to play Dmitri.” Sam was almost vibrating with excitement, like an over-grown mutant Chihuahua.

 

“The one that I have to get all lovey dovey with? I don’t really care. I hope they cast a fuckin’ robot.”

 

Sam frowned, confused. “They never said it was you he was going to be in a relationship with.”

 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Dean sighed.

 

“Not really.” Sam said.

 

Dean shrugged.

 

“Don’t you want to know who?” Sam asked.

 

“Fine, I’ll bite, Sammy. Who is it?”

 

“Your boyfriend.” Sam smirked.

 

Dean’s mind suddenly went to Cas, but that was ridiculous. One, he was nowhere near Cas’ boyfriend, and two, it would be impossible that Cas was going to be playing Dmitri. There was no way.

 

“Wow, they got Han Solo to be on our show? Awesome!” Dean grinned, trying to seem breezy.

 

“No, you jerk.”

 

“Fine, bitch. Who is it?”

 

“Oh, you’ll find out soon.” Sam winked, and Dean groaned with frustration.

 

“You’re not even going to tell me who it is after all that bull?”

 

“Nope. See ya tomorrow, Dee!” Sam giggled, yes- giggled, and ran into his trailer.

 

“Bitch!” Dean called after him.

 

Goddamnit, he hated his brother sometimes

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

It was Friday when Cas got the call.

 

Or rather, Claire got the call.

 

“Cassie! There’s someone on the phone for you!” Claire had bellowed from the kitchen, and Castiel had frowned as he studied in his bedroom. No one ever called for him on their house phone. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time anyone had called on it. He wasn’t really sure why they had it, if he was honest.

 

“Who is it?” Cas called out, in lieu of getting up and answering it. He could hear Claire laughing at whoever was on the phone.

 

“Just come and get it you assbutt!” She replied.

 

Cas grumbled and got out of his bed, stomping to the living room where Claire was watching TV, surprise surprise.

 

“Hello?” Cas said into the phone once Claire handed it over.

 

“ _Angelus Facus!”_ Came the obnoxious voice through the phone, causing Cas to groan.

 

“Hello, Gabriel.” Cas replied, sitting down on the couch beside Claire.

 

_“How is my favourite person in the whole world? And the hottest, for sure.”_

 

“Okay, enough with the flattery. What do you want?”

 

“ _You need to come to Vancouver before two pm tomorrow.”_

_“_ Why on earth would I do that?” Castiel asked, bewildered.

 

“ _So you don’t miss your audition, silly goose!”_

_“What_ audition, Gabriel?”

 

Claire looked up at that, confusion written all over her face.

 

“ _The audition for Dmitri, you idiot.”_

_“_ I literally have no idea what the hell you are talking about.”

 

_“Fine. Me and Sam may have asked Carver to hire you as Dmitri because you’re perfect for the role and I know you want to be an actor_ -”

 

“How do you know that?” Cas gasped, ignoring how fast his heart was beating, before turning to Claire and miming cutting her throat as he realised who must have told Gabriel.

 

_“Does it matter, Casatron? Look, please just come and audition? You have no competition! If they like you, they’ll hire you on the spot. They’re postponing the normal casting for you.”_

 

“Why the hell would they do that?”

 

“ _Because they love you! You’re perfect to play Dmitri, Cassie, so please, please audition?”_

 

“Why do you want me to play Dmitri so badly?”

 

_“Because you’re the cooliest, that’s why, and I can’t imagine anyone else playing the role.”_

 

“Fine, I’ll do it.”

_“YOU WILL_?” Gabriel screamed, forcing Cas to hold the phone away from his ear.

 

“If it will get you to stop being so annoying, then yes.”

_“Sorry, no can do! But I’ll email you the flight details and stuff okay? See you!”_

 

Gabriel hung up.

_“_ What’s going on?” Claire asked.

 

 Castiel blinked, disbelieving. “It seems I have an audition for Not Natural tomorrow.”

 

 ★               ★                ★

 ★               ★                ★

 

 

Castiel walked out of the audition room slightly shaking, the script he’d just read from clasped tightly in his hands,  and the second the door had closed the casting director turned to Carver with a big grin on his face.

 

“Edlund, I think we’ve found our Dmitri.” He said, the excitement leaking out of his pores. The producer on his other side nodded in agreement.

 

“He _was_ very good. He has the look.” One of the show runners added, her lips pursed in thought.

 

“I don’t think there’s anyone else that could do the character as much justice as he obviously can.” Someone else added.

 

Carver Edlund listened carefully to their comments, his face a blank mask. He had enjoyed Castiel’s audition as much as they had, maybe even more. Cas was exactly the image he had in mind for Dmitri.

 

“Get Sam and Dean in here.” Carver demanded, taking a slow sip out of his coffee.

 

His assistant scuttled out of the room faster than you could say ‘ass-kisser.’

 

“Why do we need them?” The casting director frowned.

 

“For the chemistry reading, obviously.” Carver replied.

 

“ _Already?”_ Someone gasped, but Carver wasn’t paying much attention to who was saying what.

 

“Yes.” Was all he said in reply.

 

Mintues later, Sam and Dean entered the room. An assistant gave them a script each and turned on the camera in the corner.

 

“Wow, have we travelled back in time?” Dean chuckled.

 

“No, Dean. You’re here because we need to test the chemistry between you two and our potential Dmitri.” Carver explained.

 

“Oh, okay. Where is this guy?” Dean asked.

 

Carver gestured for someone to go and get Castiel from the other room, and seconds later the scruffy haired boy was walking in the room.

 

Dean’s jaw almost hit the floor.

 

“Cas?”

 

“Hello, Dean.” Cas smirked.

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

“You don’t think you deserved to be saved, do you Jensen?” Castiel said. Dean was frowning in front of him, mere inches away from Cas, as they read from their scripts.

 

“I haven’t in the past, Dmitri. Nothing’s changed.” Dean answered.

 

“ _Everything_ had changed, Jensen. Maybe you haven’t realised it yet, but things are going to become very different.”

 

“And how would you know this, anyway? Are you a demon?” Dean demanded.

 

“No, Jensen,” Castiel cocked his head, “I am an angel of the lord.”

 

“Yeah, right.” Dean chuckled bitterly.

 

“You have no faith.”

 

“No reason to.” Dean shrugged. “And you know what? I don’t believe you’re an angel, either. You think I’m gullible or somethin’? Just leave me alone, ass.”

 

“I just saved you from _hell,_ and this is how you repay me?” Castiel growled, stepping closer to Dean. “I could drop you back in as easy as I got you out of there.”

 

Before Dean could answer, Carver yelled for them to stop, making Cas cringe. _Was I really that bad?_ He wondered.

 

“That was brilliant, Castiel.” Carver smiled, his eyes bright. “If you’re happy with it, I would really love it if you played Dmitri. In fact, I don’t want anyone else. What do you say?”

 

Castiel was stunned. He hadn’t expected to get hired just like that. He’d thought he’d get a callback, maybe, but this was ridiculous. Besides, he was still in college, and it was a lot to ask of him to move all the way to Vancouver. He probably should say no.

 

“Yes.” Castiel blurted. “I’ll do it.”

 

 ★               ★                ★

 

 

 

 

 


	8. Chapter 8

 

 

 

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

Cas didn’t start filming until the second of August, when the sun was bright and Vancouver was alive and bustling. He and Claire had moved up there two weeks earlier, settling into a four bedroom house with a a view of the ocean. It was surreal, to say the least. They’d decided to buy a house instead of an apartment, with no real reason except for the fact they could and they wanted to. Now that Cas didn’t have to worry about tuition, and he was being paid a big sum by the network for playing Dmitri, he could afford a four bedroom house without a sweat.

 

He didn’t know why he’d ever wanted to be a doctor instead of an actor.

 

He’d even gotten his own assistant, to Gabriel’s insistence, a petite girl named Hannah with curly black hair and eager eyes. She was already good friends with Claire, and they regularly hung out together along with Nicole.   

 

“Okay Mr Daydream, you’re going to have to wake up soon. First day on set and all.” A voice cut through Castiel’s thoughts. It was one of the make-up artists, Heather, Cas thought her name was.

 

“Don’t remind me,” Cas groaned in response, “I’m scared I’ll screw up somehow.”

 

“There was an extra before who fell into some set prop, and everything fell down like dominos and it took a week to repair everything.” Heather giggled. “So I wouldn’t worry. Whatever you do won’t be as bad as that.”

 

Heather touched up his make-up until she was satisfied, sitting back against the counter with a satisfied smile.

 

One of the assistants suddenly popped their head through the door to the make-up trailer. “We need Cas in stage 2.” He said, before disappearing.

 

“It’s going to be okay, Castiel.” Heather grinned reassuringly.

 

“Don’t jinx it!” Cas exclaimed.

 

“Go get ‘em, tiger.” Heather said, as she pushed Cas through the door and slammed it behind him. Hannah, Claire and Nicole were standing a few metres away, discussing something heatedly.

 

“No, Han, it won’t happen yet.” Nicole was saying with a hard shake of her head.

 

“But they like each-” Hannah stopped as she saw Cas approaching. “Hey, Castiel! Nice make-up.”

 

“Thanks, Han.” Cas rolled his eyes.

 

“Are you ready for your first day on set?” Claire asked excitedly, linking her arm through Cas’.

 

“Do I _look_ ready, Claire?”  Cas deadpanned. The girls giggled.

 

“You’ll be fine. Dean was the same on his first day, too.” Nicole added, patting him on the arm comfortingly. “Now hurry up, or you’re going to be late, jackass.”

 

 By the time they’d made it to the set and Cas was stood on his mark, he was still nervous but he’d managed to mostly hide the fact. Dean and Sam were in front of him, joking about something, and Cas felt strangely at home rather than out of his depth.

 

“Are you guys ready?” The director shouted. The three actors nodded.

 

_“Action!”_

 

“So this is the infamous Dmitri, huh?” Sam snorted. “Doesn’t look like much.”

 

“Jared, don’t be an ass. He saved our lives.” Dean said.

 

“No, Jensen. He saved _your_ life.”

 

“Jared, you are s-” Dean snapped, but was cut off.

 

“Jensen, it’s quite alright. Jared does not have a soul, so I don’t blame him for not being as welcoming.”

 

“You say that like he’s just missing his car keys or something.” Dean replied with a lopsided grin.

 

Cas frowned. “Jensen, if it is okay I’d like a moment in private.”

 

“Sure, I, uh. Jared, will you wait in the car?” Dean asked awkwardly.

 

“No, Jared that won’t be necessary.” Cas said, before touching Dean on the forehead. “We’ll be back soon.”

 

“ _Cut!_ That was awesome, guys. We’ll do a couple more takes then move on to the next scene.” The director said.

 

The rest of the day passed easily, easy banter flowing between the scenes and perfect professionalism during them.

 

“ _That’s a wrap for today, guys!”_

 

Cas couldn’t stop the grin breaking out on his face at the words. Not because they’d finished shooting, but because he’d made it through the day without embarrassing himself or without screwing anything up. That was a good day in his books.

 

“Congratulations, Cas.” Sam grinned at him, “You made it through the first day!”

 

“Yeah, Cas. You did good today, man.” Dean added, slinging an arm across his shoulders. “We should all go out for drinks to celebrate.”

 

“Yes, that would be agreeable.” Cas replied.

 

“Sweet. Sammy, why don’t you wrangle up the others and we’ll meet at the Roadhouse at eight?” Dean said, and Sam nodded. Dean suddenly remembered that Cas had no idea what or where the Roadhouse was. “Cas, how about I pick you up, seeing as you don’t know where it is? About 7:30?”

 

Cas nodded, trying to make sure it didn’t look too eager.

 

“Great, you’ll love the Roadhouse, Cas.” Dean assured. “Listen, I gotta meeting with my publicist but I’ll see you guys later, okay? Remember, Cas, 7:30!”

 

Cas nodded again. “I’ll see you then, Dean.”

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

“Good evening, Dean.” Rufus said, resting his elbows on the desk in front of him.

 

“Hey, Rufus. Any reason you called me in today?” Dean said, throwing himself down in the chair opposite his publicist’s desk.

 

“There has been some… speculation. About you.”Rufus began.

 

“What kind of speculation?”

 

“That you’re gay, son. The fans aren’t happy.” Rufus frowned.

 

“Okay, I’m not gay, and even if I was, why would the fans not be happy?”

 

“They feel lied to, Dean.”

 

“Well, I’m not gay!”

 

“What about Lisa?”

 

“Yes, what _about_ Lisa?” Dean demanded.

 

“You admitted to the whole of Chi Con that you didn’t sleep with her. That doesn’t give you many heterosexual points, Dean!”

 

“Okay, that might have been a stupid thing to do, but-”

 

“No buts, Dean. We can’t change what’s happened, but we can change things now.”

 

Dean frowned, not liking the tone of Rufus’s voice. “What do you suggest?”

 

“You need to show the fans you’re still you.”

 

“Still _me?_ You mean, heterosexual, ladies man, suave guy, Dean Winchester?”

 

“Don’t use that tone with me, boy. You’re contractually obligated to listen to me, in the best interest of the network and you.”

 

Dean sighed. “What do I need to do?”

 

“You know who Carmen Porter is? You’re gonna date ‘er.”

 

“The Paris Hilton wannabe chick?” Dean groaned.

 

“The fashion designer, business woman heiress, yes. Her agents need her to be seen in public with a man, so people know she’s over her ex. She wants you.”

 

“What if I don’t want her?”

 

“This isn’t up for discussion.” Rufus said with finality. He slid a piece of paper over the desk to Dean. “Here’s her info. You need to call and arrange a date before the end of this week, you hear?”

 

“I hear.” Dean grumbled, snatching the paper.

 

“Nice seein’ ya, son.” Rufus grinned.

 

“Whatever.” Dean replied, before standing up and walking out of the office with the paper clutched tight in his hand.

 

He felt like a monkey trapped in a zoo.

★               ★                ★

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

It was 8pm and Cas was freaking out, for several reasons. One, Claire and Nicole had gone out for girl’s night and Cas was pretty sure there would be drinking involved. Two, Dean was meant to pick him up half an hour ago but here Cas was, sitting on his living room couch waiting for him.

 

Had he been stood up?

 

Maybe Dean had forgotten, or maybe he was just late, or maybe he realised he didn’t like Cas at all and had run for the hills.

 

Cas pulled the sleeves of his burgundy sweater over his hands and brought the corner to his mouth, nibbling on it distractedly. That was another thing he was freaking out about; dressed in a plain sweater and black skinny jeans, he felt severely under dressed. God, he wished Claire was home.

 

 _Maybe I should change,_ Cas thought. _Maybe I should put on a shirt?_

Before he could do anything about it, however, there was a knock on the door. Cas almost ran to open it.

 

“Cas! I’m so sorry I’m late-” Dean began, his face apologetic.

 

“It’s okay, Dean.” Cas found himself saying. “Fashionably late, right?”

 

Dean was relieved to see Cas wasn’t mad at him. “I shoulda called or something, my meeting with Rufus ran late and I’m sorry.”

 

“ _Dean._ ”

 

“Okay, uh, sorry.”

 

“If you say sorry one more time I’m not coming with you.”

 

Dean chuckled as he nodded. Wordlessly, he led the way to his car, the beloved 67 impala. Before he got in, however, he stopped short.

 

“Dean?” Cas questioned, noticing the other man had stopped moving.

 

“Cas, is that your car?” Dean asked in awe.

 

“Uh, yeah?”

 

Dean whistled. “What’s it, 67 mustang, right? That’s one hot car, Cas.”

 

“Thank you.” Cas replied, as they both got into Dean’s car. “I could say the same thing to you.”

 

“What, that I’m hot?” Dean winked, as he pulled out of Cas’ driveway.

 

“No, your car is hot.”

 

“You wound me, Cas.”

“Sorry, but if too many people tell you your hot your ego may get so big that I won’t even be able to fit in the car.”

 

“What makes you think that a lot of people tell me I’m hot, Cas?”

 

“Don’t they?”

 

“You’d be surprised.”

 

“Maybe they’re just intimidated by how hot you are.”

 

“So you _do_ think I’m hot, eh? Knew it.” Dean smirked.

 

“You’re infuriating.” Cas sighed, but there was a smile on his face. “What happened with Rufus today, anyhow?”

 

“Oh, it was just him being Rufus, I guess. Says I’m stupid for telling people I didn’t sleep with Lisa.”

 

“I suppose it’s his job to do that.” Cas shrugged.

 

“You- do you agree with him?” Dean asked, his eyes flicking over to Cas.

 

“I think it was a good thing you told them, to be honest. At least you can prove the baby isn’t yours.”

 

“Yeah, that’s true.”

 

“Then again, seeing as you’ve got quite a following of women it might have been a bit silly to say you didn’t really want to sleep with Lisa.” Cas added, but instead of angry, which Dean would have been if anyone else had said it, Dean was relieved that Cas was being honest with him.

 

Dean pulled the car to a stop behind the Roadhouse, the silence almost deafening without the engine rumbling around them. Dean gave Cas a meaningful look. “Maybe I’m just tired of living a lie.”

 

 Before Cas could answer, there was a loud knocking on the window.

 

“Will you two stop _eye fucking?_ You’re already late!”

 

It was Gabriel. Who else would it be?

 

The men grumbled but got out of the car anyway, to where Gabriel was standing with a cigarette in his mouth. “What took you girls so long anyway? It was you wasn’t it, angel eyes? I _knew_ you were one of those types that takes hours to look ready. Can’t rush perfection and all that.”

 

“Shut up, Gabe.” Dean rolled his eyes, walking away. The other two followed as he lead them into the Roadhouse, Gabriel’s cigarette squashed on the ground.

 

 Inside, the bar was dark and stuffy, but Cas could see where the appeal lay; it was in the company and the feeling of home. It wasn’t like normal bars where you felt out of place, it was like everyone in there was your friend, even though that sounded so stupidly cheesy.

 

They made their way to the corner of the bar where there was a bunch of tables pushed together to make one big one, and even though Dean and Cas were only twenty minutes late, the table was already full of drinks and empty bottles.

 

“You guys finally made it!” Sam exclaimed from his seat in the booth next to Bela, his cheeks flushed. Next to Bela sat Benny, followed by Balthazar, and across the table was Kevin, Crowley and what was presumably Gabriel’s seat, if the two pink cocktails were anything to go by.

 

Sam moved up, so there was a small space next to him. “Come sit here, guys!”

 

“I think you’re underestimating our size, Sammy.” Dean chuckled.

 

“Are you saying I’m _fat,_ Dean Winchester?” Cas mock-gasped from his side, speaking in a girly voice. “Because I can tell you now I’m just big bone-ded!”

 

“God, you are a dork.” Dean groaned, but there was a smile on his face.

 

“Called me fat and now you’re calling me a dork! Will this torment ever end?” Cas sighed playfully. Instead of answering, Dean pushed Cas down into the seat next to Sam and squashed himself in by his side.

 

“Happy now?” Dean asked, trying to ignore the fact that the whole left side of his body was touching Cas.

 

“Nope.” Cas pouted. “You pushed me down before I could get a drink.”

 

Cas got up, pulling money out of his pocket. “Do you want anything, Dean?”

 

“Beer, thanks, Cas.” Dean grinned.

 

Cas had been trying to ask Dean to go up to the bar with him, but this arrangement could work too, Cas decided. He asked the bartender for a mojito and the girliest cocktail available. It was pink, in a pink glass with a twirly stem and a pink umbrella sticking out of a piece of pineapple on the top. There was also a stick with a plastic angel on the top, to stir it. At Cas’ request, the bartender put extra cherries around the rim.

 

“Perfect.” Cas grinned once the bartender had finished.

 

“You got a weird taste in drinks, kid.” The bartender said.

 

“It’s for my friend, actually.” Cas laughed, and the bartender chuckled.

 

“I’m Ash. Is your friend the mighty Dean Winchester?”

 

“Yeah, how did you know?”

 

“Saw you come in with him. Give him the drink on the house.” Ash winked. Cas nodded in thanks and went back to the table, handing Dean his drink.

 

“What the hell is this, Cas?”

 

Cas blinked innocently, fighting away the laughter that was trying to bubble to the surface. “It’s a drink, Dean.”

 

By now the whole table was watching the exchange, Sam beside Dean not even trying to hide his laughter.

 

“Thanks, Cas. I see that.” Dean  said, holding the drink awkwardly in his hands, unsure of what to do with it. Their eyes met, Castiel’s blue ones challenging, and Dean grinned in return. “How did you know I love cherries?” He said, before taking a big gulp of the drink like it was nothing.

 

Cas smiled so big his gums showed, and squeezed himself in between Dean and Sam once again. However, Dean’s legs were splayed wide so Cas ended up half in his lap. Dean did nothing to change the fact.

 

“Dude, I can’t believe you’re actually going to drink that. Remember the time I got you a Cosmopolitan?” Sam asked, bewildered. “You called me a dick and refused to drink it!”

 

“Shut up, Sammy.” Dean growled, ears turning pink. “It’s only a drink.”

 

No one brought the drink up after that, and they carried on drinking. Dean made sure he was the one to get his drink next time, and ordered whiskey for himself and the girly cocktail for Cas. Dean’s plan of embarrassing Cas backfired when he realised Cas genuinely liked girly cocktails.

 

Around half eleven, the group were pretty buzzed, expecially Sam.

 

“Bela, should we do the thing now?” Sam asked, looking excited. Everyone turned to them with confused expressions.

 

Bela nodded.

 

“You’re not pregnant, are you?” Dean asked with wide eyes.

 

“Don’t be stupid, Dean.” Bela rolled her eyes. “It’s just Sam being dramatic.”

 

“Okay, first thing, we’re getting a dog!” Sam shouted, eyes shining. “And we’re moving in together.”

 

Everyone at the table clapped at the news, except for Dean.

 

“You’re movin’ out, Sammy?” Dean asked, his voice nearly breaking.

 

Sam’s eyes widened, as though he had not realised that moving in with Bela would mean having to move out from the place he owned with Dean.

 

“Dean, I-”

 

“I’m happy for you, Sam.” Dean said, but his face was devoid of any positive emotion.

 

“But-”

 

“I’m going out for a cigarette.” Dean grumbled, peeling himself away from Cas and stumbling out of the bar.

 

“Well done, Moose.” Crowley smiled, sarcasm dripping from his words.

 

“I should go after hi-” Sam began, but stopped once he saw everyone’s expressions.

 

“I don’t think that would be a good idea, Sam. He needs to cool down.” Bela told him. “It’d be better if you tried to speak to him when he’s sober.”

 

“But what if he does something stupid, Bel? I would never forgive myself!” Sam shouted, and Bela began comforting him in a hushed tone, her hand rubbing his back reassuringly.

 

After a few minutes, Sam pulled away with a smile. “Okay, but will someone else go and check on him, please?”

 

The others shared a look.

 

Gabriel pointed towards the empty space where Cas had been sitting. “I think that ship sailed, Samoose.”

 

Sam smiled. “I’m glad he has Cas to look after him.”

 

Bela patted his arm. “We all are.”

★               ★                ★

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

Cas found Dean in his car, his head pressed against the steering wheel and his hands clasped tightly around it.

 

“Dean?” Cas asked, sliding into the car. “Are you okay?”

 

“Peachy.” Dean mumbled, not moving his head.

 

Cas’s hand hovered awkwardly in the air for a moment, before he dropped it onto Dean’s shoulder.

 

“Sam’s going to be alright, Dean. He’s happy with Bela.” Cas told him.

 

“As opposed to not being happy with me?” Dean demanded.

 

“Dean, you know what I mean. Sam’s an adult now, you don’t need to protect him so much.”

 

Dean moved away from the steering wheel, looking at Cas. “It’s all I’ve ever known, Cas.” Dean whispered, tears in his eyes. “I’ve never been by myself before.”

 

“You’re _not_ by yourself, Dean! You still have Sam, you have all of your friends! Just because Sam is going to be living with Bela doesn’t mean you’re never going to see him, I mean you work together every day.”

 

“But who’s going to annoy me and tell me to eat vegetables? Or make sure I don’t stay up all night watching TV? Or help me run lines?”

 

“Sam can still do all those things, Dean. There’s this miraculous invention called a telephone, you know.”

 

“I guess so.” Dean sniffed. “Goddamnit. I knew this was going to be coming at some point, y’know? Just not this soon.”

 

“Change is hard.” Cas agreed. “But sometimes it’s for the best.”

 

“How is any of this _for the best?_ Sure, maybe for Sammy, but how is it for me?” One single tear had made a track down Dean’s freckled cheek, illuminated by the street lights outside.

 

“Well, now you could get a girlfriend and she could move in with you, or you could get a turtle or something. Stop focusing on the bad parts, Dean.”

 

“You’re right, Cas. I just, it’s hard, you know?”

 

“I understand somewhat. I’m sure it will be very hard for me next year when Claire goes away to college.”

 

Dean nodded, before sliding down into the seat more so his chin was resting inside his shirt. “Am I being selfish, Cas?”

 

Cas, whose hand was still on Dean’s shoulder, moved it so his arm was around Dean. “Not at all.”

 

“He’s probably better off with Bela, anyway.” Dean said with a bitter chuckle.

 

“Why do you say that?”

 

“Cas, you’ve seen me, right? I’m a _mess._ If I was Sam, I’d be itching to get away, too.” Dean sighed, and somehow they’d both moved so Cas’ body was pressed against Dean’s side, and Dean’s head was on Castiel’s chest. Both men ignored it.

 

“Dean, you’re being ridiculous. You’re not a mess.”

 

“Sure I’m not.” Dean scoffed.

 

“You’re no more of a mess than anyone else.” Cas said honestly.

 

Dean did not answer, and so they both sat there, content in the silence and each other’s warmth. The watch on Dean’s wrist said it was past midnight.

 

Neither man was sure what happened after that; they may have gone to sleep, or were succumbed to strong daydreams making it seem like slumber, but the next time Dean checked his watch it was nearing three a.m.

 

“We better go, Cas. I’m shooting tomorrow.” Dean sighed reluctantly.

 

“Are you sober enough to drive?” Cas asked, scanning Dean’s face.

 

“I am now.”

 

Dean dropped Cas off twenty minutes later, and with a tight hug he was off again. When he stepped through the door to what would soon be _his_ place, not his and Sam’s, he pulled out his cell phone and texted the one person he thought he wouldn’t.

 

**_hey Carmen. do u wanna meet for drinks sometime this week?_ **

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

 

 

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I'm not going into the claire/nicole in detail, if that's something you're into. I may do a sequel based more on them, or maybe just a few scenes about them as interludes.
> 
> also, there was a mishap with the characters in the last chapter. Rufus is Dean's publicist, not Bobby. I apologise for any confusion!

 

 

Claire started at her new Canadian high school on September third. The day went by uneventful, except for the fact she’d somehow gotten herself into the bad books of the popular girls, Abbaddon and Rowena. Claire didn’t really know why, but she understood on some level. It had been the same at her old school; some people just didn’t like Claire. Maybe it was her ‘punk style’ or the fact she wasn’t trying very hard to be nice, and Claire didn’t really care enough to find out. It’s not like she wanted to be friends with Abby and Rowena anyway.

 

Claire had all the friends she needed. She had Cas, and Nicole and Hannah, and Krissy back home. She didn’t need some demonic girls on her side and she could handle any snide comments they fired her way.

 

The best part of her day didn’t begin until she was walking home after school, when her phone pinged, alerting her of a new text.

 

**< From Nicole**

****

**_How was your first day? X_ **

****

Ignoring the fluttering in her chest, she typed out a reply.

 

**To Nicole >**

****

**_As good as high school gets, I suppose. X_ **

****

**< From Nicole**

****

**_So it was fucking terrible, then? x_ **

****

**To Nicole >**

****

**_Pretty much. X_ **

****

**< From Nicole**

****

**_I know something that will make you feel better;) x_ **

**To Nicole >**

****

**_Drugs?:D x_ **

**< From Nicole**

****

**_Not quite. How’s take out and a shitty horror movie marathon sound? X_ **

**To Nicole >**

**_Throw in a cocktail or two and I’m in. x_ **

****

**< From Nicole**

****

**_You got yourself a deal, kid. Come to my place whenever you can! xx_ **

 

So that’s how Claire ended up at Nicole’s apartment less than ten minutes later.

 

“Bit eager, are we?” Nicole smirked once she opened the door.

 

Claire sighed, but there was a smile on her face. “Just point me to the alcohol.” 

★               ★                ★

  

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

“How did Dean take it?” Bela asked, running her long fingers through Sam’s hair. His head was in her lap as they watched TV in their new house.

 

“He _seemed_ fine, but with Dean you know that could mean anything.” Sam sighed.

 

 It was the first Thursday of September- and the day that he’d moved in with Bela Talbot.

 

“So, he’s not in danger of throwing himself off of the nearest tall building, but there’s a high chance that he will be seeing the bottom of a bottle tonight?” Bela concluded with a smirk.

 

Sam nodded and chuckled softly, but his heart wasn’t in it.

 

“I’m worried about him.” Sam said with a small voice.

 

Bela’s fingers tightened slightly around his hair, before loosening again. “He’s going to be fine, Sam. You know he will.”

 

“I just wished he had someone, you know? Like Lisa. If they were still together, today would have gone much more smoothly.”

 

“You really want him back with _Lisa?”_

Sam grimaced. “Maybe not. Just someone. I’m scared he’ll be alone forever, it’s so frustrating how he thinks he’s not good enough for anyone so he doesn’t even _try!”_

 

“One day he’ll find the right person, and they’ll show Dean he’s good enough.” Bela promised, a far away look on her face.

 

“I’m just tired of waiting. He deserves to be happy.” Sam sighed. “And really happy, not just drunk-happy or high-happy.”

 

“Maybe Gabriel’s on to something with that plan of his.” Bela mused.

 

“You think?”

 

Bela shrugged. “I don’t know, but something about Cas tells me that he’d be good for Dean.”

 

Sam frowned in thought. “I hope you’re right.”

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

Dean’s eyes flickered to the clock on the microwave. It read 18:56.

 

He flicked his phone between his fingers absentmindedly, other hand wrapped around a glass of god-knows-what. He didn’t even remember how many kinds of alcohol he’d even put in it.

 

He did, however, remember that his little brother had moved out that morning. No amount of alcohol would make him forget.

 

His phone suddenly chimed, making Dean’s heart skip a beat. Ever since the twitter conversation, he’d been itching for Cas to tweet him again, offer to come over, maybe. Dean didn’t want to be the first to admit he needed someone with him now that his brother was gone, but he wouldn’t decline if Cas offered to keep him company.

 

Dean wasn’t lonely, per say, becausebeing alone doesn’t necessarily make you lonely, but being without the ones you loved the most? Yeah, that was the worst thing in the world. Alas, he was happy for Sam, and he’d just have to get over it.

 

Of course, it wasn’t Cas tweeting him, it was a text from his network provider.

 

 _Maybe I should text Cas myself_? Dean thought. _Yeah, why not._

 

**To Cas >**

****

**_u know i wasn’t joking when i said u should come over_ **

 

The reply came almost instantly.

 

**< From Cas**

****

**_Without the lasagne to sweeten the deal, I’m not sure if I want to…_ **

**To Cas >**

**_i’ll be here isnt that sweet enough?_ **

**< From Cas**

**_I’ll be there soon._ **

****

Dean ignored the weird feeling in his stomach when he read Cas’ reply, his face splitting into a grin.

 

Cas arrived twenty minutes later, a pizza box in his hand.

 

“You brought pizza?” Dean gasped, a grin on his face.

 

Cad frowned. “No, the trashcan at my place was full so I thought I’d bring my empty pizza box here to get rid of.”

 

Dean’s face fell.

 

“You are so gullible, Dean.” Cas said, breaking into laughter. Dean punched him on the shoulder lightly.

 

“Don’t do that to me, man. Never play with a man’s heart like that!” Dean took the pizza from Cas and lead them to the living room, placing the pizza on the couch.

 

The living room looked like a bar, Cas noted with a frown. There was half-drunk cocktails littering the coffee table, along with a six pack of beer on the floor and two different kinds of whiskey and tequila resting on one side of the couch.

 

“Any reason you invited jack, jose and Johnny over for a party tonight?” Cas asked. Dean’s eyes flicked to him, full of sadness for a moment until Dean blinked, and it was gone again.

 

“Sam moved out today.” Dean said quietly.

 

“You should have called me earlier.” Cas said, their eyes still locked intensely, the words going unspoken from their mouths were being discussed in their eyes.

 

“Yeah, well.” Dean shrugged. “You want a drink?”

 

Cas nodded, and Dean disappeared into the kitchen before returning with a glass filled with pink liquid. “Your favourite.” Dean grinned.

 

“Thank you, Dean.”

 

“So I was thinking, movie marathon?” Dean cleared the bottles from the couch and sat down, gesturing for Cas to sit.

 

“It depends what movies.” Cas replied, settling into the couch beside Dean.

 

“Oh, the possibilities! We could do a star wars marathon, a Disney movie marathon, men in black marathon, 80’s high school movies.”

 

“I don’t think I’ve seen any of those.” Cas frowned.

 

“You- are you serious, Cas? Have you been living under a rock?”

 

“Claire usually controls the tv watching, and she doesn’t watch anything except for Not Natural, South Park and Friends.”

 

“You are a crime against nature, Cas. We’re going to watch one of each, okay? We’ll start with a Disney movie. Which one do you want to watch?”

 

“Uh…”

 

“Have you even heard of any Disney movies, Cas?” Dean cried, and Cas shrugged in reply. “Okay, that’s it. We’re watching Aladdin.” Dean moved to the TV and picked out the DVD from the rack beside it and put it in.

 

“Aladdin?”

 

“You can’t live without seeing Aladdin, Cas. Besides, I’ve always wanted someone I could duet _A whole new world_ with, and Charlie refuses to watch any of the princess ones.”

 

“I see.” Cas answered as Dean settled back on the couch, only a few inches of space between the two men.

 

Apart from a few drink-breaks, they watched Aladdin, and Men in Black, the only speaking they did was when Cas asked why Dean liked Aladdin so much.

 

Dean didn’t know what to answer; except for the fact he sort of related with Aladdin, aside from the fact Dean didn’t have a pet monkey and flying carpet.

 

Dean was glad that Cas wasn’t one of those people that asked stupid questions while watching movies, and Dean was thankful that he didn’t have to spend the dreaded day by himself. Even if he and Cas weren’t really speaking, it was nice to have company.

 

After they watched Men in Black, and Cas decided he really liked Will Smith, Dean put on the Breakfast Club, telling Cas that it was a movie that everyone had to see; no exceptions.

 

“But why, Dean?” Cas had asked as Dean was putting the disk in.

 

“Because it’s a right of passage, Cas.” Dean replied as he sat on the couch, resting his arm on the back . If Sam was there, he would have said it was because Dean had a massive crush on Judd Nelson. Dean would have denied it aggressively, but inside he couldn’t deny it.

 

Dean related to John Bender even more than he did Aladdin, except for the fact Dean would never get the popular chick at the end of his movie.

 

They watched it peacefully until they were halfway through, and Dean suddenly felt a weight press against his side.

 

“Cas?” Dean frowned, thinking Cas wanted something, but when he turned he saw that Castiel had fallen asleep and Dean had been promoted to human cushion- not that he was complaining.

 

When the credits to the movie rolled and the watch on Dean’s wrist said it was after midnight, Cas had still not woken up.

 

It would be mean to wake him, right?

 

Or, that’s what Dean said to himself as he watched the rest of the movie, his arm drifting closer to Cas’ shoulders subconsciously.

 

When the credits to the movie rolled and the watch on Dean’s wrist said it was after midnight, Dean had fallen asleep; his head resting on Castiel’s.  

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

“Did you  _see_  the idiots flirting on twitter last night?” Gabriel demanded, walking into Bela and Sam’s house uninvited. The couple, who were sat on the couch, shared a look.

 

“I mean, being obviously in love in front of us is one thing,” Gabriel continued, throwing himself down heavily into a loveseat by the couch. “But in front of the  _whole of twitter?_  I didn’t think they had the balls for it!”

 

“Is there any reason you couldn’t discuss this with us over the phone, Gabe?” Sam sighed, pausing the movie that had been playing.

 

“ _Yes,_ Samsquatch, the reason is that we need to make them like each other even more! Have you forgotten the plan?” Gabriel said, offended.

 

“Even if Cas dressed as a massive piece of pie and sang Led Zeppelin’s greatest hits, I don’t think it’d be possible for Dean to like Cas more than he already does.” Sam replied, rolling his eyes.

 

Gabriel pondered this for a moment. “Well, if he likes him so much, why are they still just friends?”

 

It was Bela’s turn to roll her eyes this time. “You boys are ridiculous. You can’t just put them in a room and hope they’ll fuck, they’re not animals in a zoo.  Besides, it will be months until Dean’s out of the closet far enough to do anything about his feelings.”

Gabriel pouted. “But I want them together  _now!”_

 

“You can’t push Dean, lest him get scared and go even deeper into Narnia.”

 

“ _Lest?_ Who even speaks like that, Samoose?” Gabriel exclaimed. “Have any of you got something helpful to add to the plan?”

 

“All we can do is make sure they become really good friends. Everything else will fall into place, and probably getting rid of Carmen would be a good idea, too.” Bela mused.

 

“Who the fuck is Carmen?” Gabriel fumed. He hadn’t planned for this!

 

“Do you even go on the internet, Gabe?” Sam scoffed. “She’s Dean’s new plaything.”

 

“Jesus  _Christ!”_ Gabriel shouted, slamming his fist onto the loveseat’s arm rest.

 

“You know, there is one thing you could do…” Bela began, her eyes twinkling.

 

Gabriel inched forward in his seat, his face alit with hope. “Anything.”

 

“Well, we all know Dean’s not taking this living alone thing well…”

 

“Get to the point, Bela!”

 

“Maybe you should convince him that he needs to get a roommate.” Bela smirked.

 

“How would that- no. That wouldn’t work! Cassie wouldn’t leave Claire.” Gabriel slumped back into the chair, disappointed. Back to square one.

 

“She’ll be going to college next year.” Sam offered, but it just made Gabriel frown deeper.

 

“Next year, wow that’s a lot of help.”

 

“Gabe, you’re just going to have to wait, okay? But I’ll tell you one thing, things will definitely heat up once they get to filming the love scenes.” Sam promised.

 

“Sammo! You’re a genius!” Gabriel bent forward and grabbed Sam’s face, kissing him hard on the lips. “I love you.”

 

“Yeah, yeah.” Sam groaned, pushing him away.

 

Gabriel grinned, before walking back towards the door with purpose. He had a plan to put in place. Before stepping out of the door, however, he shouted over his shoulder to Sam. “You can’t deny our love forever, Samsquatch!”

 

Gabriel could almost hear the bitch face radiating from the living room.

★               ★                ★

 

 

It was a few days later and Dean was grocery shopping. Usually it was Sam who bought the groceries, not Dean, and for good reason. When Dean was left to the grocery shopping he’d end up with beer, pie and burgers. Which, to Dean, wasn’t a bad thing, but to doctor’s everywhere it wasn’t necessarily a good diet.

 

This is how Dean ended up frowning at the rows and rows of produce at the supermarket, way out of his depth.

 

 _Shoulda got Nicole to come with me._ Dean thought to himself, but like the idiot he was, he’d given Nicole the night off to spend with Claire.

 

At least someone was having fun.

 

Why was there so many different kinds of stuff to buy? And don’t even get him started on all the different kinds of fruit and vegetables. What the hell was a zucchini, anyway?

 

He needed reinforcement.

 

He thought about calling Sam, but then decided against it. He didn’t need his little brother to know he failed at grocery shopping, anyway. There was only one option left, really.

 

                         

 

 

 

Dean ignored the slightly weird last text from Cas and went to put his empty cart away, deciding to go and wait outside for Cas.

 

Five minutes later, he arrived, joining Dean outside of the store. “I can’t believe you required assistance to go grocery shopping.” Cas said in lieu of a greeting.

 

Dean’s cheeks tinged pink as his head dropped. “Shut up, let’s just go inside, okay?”

 

It was when they were getting the cart that Dean got an amazing idea. “You know what’ll be fun, Cas?” Dean grinned, his eyes bright and teasing.

 

Cas squinted his eyes. “What?”

 

Before Cas even realised what had happened, Dean had picked up Cas and placed him in the cart.

 

“Onward!” Dean cried, grabbing the cart and pushing it quickly down the first aisle, Castiel’s protests going ignored.

 

“Dean, I highly doubt this is necessary.”

 

“No, Cas, but it’s necessary that we have some fun once in a while.” Dean smirked.

 

“Why do either of us need to be in the cart?”

 

“ _Because,_ it’s funny! Live a little, Cas.”

 

“I live plenty! Why can’t you go in the cart?” Cas folded his arms across his chest with a pout that was threatening to be taken over by a grin.

 

“Because you’re the smallest.” Dean said simply. “Now help me buy groceries that won’t give me a coronary before I’m forty-five.”

 

“I get the feeling you’re using me for my shopping skills.” Cas frowned jokingly, but gestured for Dean to push the cart further down the aisle.

 

“Well, if the shoe fits…”

 

“I hate you.” Cas stuck out his tongue at Dean, before reaching towards the shelves and throwing a few things into the cart.

 

Once the cart was almost full around Cas, his lap full of different vegetables, Dean was eyeing up the bakery section in the back of the store with hopeful eyes.

 

“I thought you wanted healthy food, Dean?”

 

“Yeah, well, I have to ease into it. Besides, pie _is_ healthy. It has fruit in it.”

 

Cas rolled his eyes, but didn’t protest as Dean pushed them towards the pie. He did, however, protest after Dean took over fifteen minutes to decide which pie he wanted.

 

“Dean, it’s only pie! How hard can it be to decide which one to get?” 

 

Dean turned to Cas with wide eyes. “Just pie, Cas? _Just pie?”_

 

Cas realised his mistake and quickly turned to the baker. “Can we have one of each kind, please?”

 

Dean exhaled slowly and narrowed his eyes at Cas. “You’re not forgiven.”

 

“But look at all the pies I got you! There’s cherry, and apple, and pecan-”

 

Before Cas could finish his sentence, Dean pushed the cart down one of the emptier aisles, sending him zooming past the shelves with a less-than-manly squeal. “ _Dean!”_

Cas tried to climb out of the cart, but it was impossible without squashing Dean’s things.

 

“This is what you get for disrespecting pie, Cas! It’s almost as bad as the time that Sam got me cake instead of pie!” Dean whined, walking over to the cart and grabbing it once again. By the mischievous glint in his eye, Cas could tell the torment was by far over.

 

“Dean-” Cas tried to warn, but Dean had already ducked them into a deserted aisle and broke into a run, pushing the cart like he had before but instead of letting go, he swung his legs onto the bar at the bottom of the cart so he flew down the aisle with it, letting out a whoop.

 

“Dean, we’re going to crash!” Cas cried, covering his eyes with his hands.

 

Dean couldn’t hear him over the loud sound of a rack of chips toppling over.

 

“Son of a bitch!” Dean exclaimed, but there was a big grin on his face. Turning the opposite way, he ran down the opposite aisle, leaving Cas next to the fallen chips.

 

“Dean, don’t leave me here!” Cas called over to him, just as two of the store workers walked over to him.

 

“Sir, may I ask you to get out of the cart and then leave the store.” A woman with a pursed mouth told Cas, making him flush red. Her name tag read Donna.

 

“I’m sorry for any inconvenience, ma’am.” Dean said, appearing out of nowhere. The woman’s face morphed into one of excitement as she spotted Dean.

 

“Are- are you Dean Winchester?”

 

“Indeed I am.” Dean replied with a smirk, before winking at Cas.

 

“Oh! I love Not Natural so much!” Donna gushed.

 

“If you love me then you’ll love Cas,” Dean said, gesturing to the dishevelled man still in the cart. “He’s going to be on the show next season.”

 

“Wow, really? Could I take pictures?” Donna smiled excitedly.

 

The two men, of course, agreed; not wanting to be kicked out of the store. Within minutes, there was three other fans begging for autographs, saying they’d seen them in the store earlier but hadn’t wanted to come over. Thankfully, seeing as it was quite late, there wasn’t many people in the store.

 

“See, Cas. Everything turned out fine!” Dean said once they were alone again, pushing the cart towards the check-out line. “You gotta agree that was hilarious. You’re face when Donna told you to get out of the store was priceless!” Dean broke into another round of laughter.

 

Cas tried to stay mad, but he found out he really couldn’t, and fell into laughter also. “How do you do that?” Cas asked, once the laughter had died down.

 

“Do what?” Dean frowned.

 

“Turn something meant to be so trivial into something so _exciting?_ ” Cas breathed, his eyes alight. 

 

“Grocery shopping isn’t exciting, Cas.” Dean replied, beginning to load his things onto the check-out belt.

 

“Exactly.” Cas said, passing more items to Dean so he could put them on the belt. They worked in tandem like that until the cart was empty except for Cas. Dean extended a hand to him, and Cas took it as Dean helped him get out of the cart. Cas foot caught on the edge, however, and it sent him toppling over until Dean caught him.

 

“Watch out, clumsy Joe.” Dean grinned, grabbing Cas’ shoulders and setting him straight.

 

“Who’s Joe?” Cas frowned, cocking his head to the side.

 

Dean shook his head with a soft chuckle, before turning to the belt and beginning to put the now-bagged items in the cart.

 

Once they’d loaded the cart, they went to put the bags into Dean’s car.

 

“So, uh, thanks for helping me today, Cas.” Dean said, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

“It was no problem, Dean. I could come over and help you unload them if you wish.” Cas offered, and Dean suddenly turned awkward.

 

“Uh, actually, I’m meant to be meeting Carmen.” Dean replied, looking awkward.

 

“Oh. Okay, then.” Cas smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “She seems nice.”

 

Dean grimaced. “I guess she is.”

 

Cas nodded. “So, I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”

 

“Bye, Cas.”

 

Cas didn’t reply as he turned and walked away, leaving Dean to watch him go dejectedly.

 

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how clear the last image is so if you have problems seeing it then feel free to point it out!


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally some smoochy-smoochy! 
> 
> I really appreciate all the kudos/comments, guys! they make my day, I swear.

 

 

“I’m glad you could make it, Castiel.” Rachel said with a flash of pearly white teeth. “I’ve been looking forward to interviewing you.”

 

“I’m glad to be here.” Cas shot back easily. They had met at one of the local coffee shops, and were sat at the corner table, a voice recorder resting on the table between them.

 

“So, tell me about your character on Not Natural.” Rachel prompted, pressing a red button on the recorder.

 

“Well, I play a guy called Dmitri- but he’s not a human, he’s an angel, and he’s kind of uh- eccentric. Insouciant, maybe. He meets the Winchesters and is suddenly drawn to humanity and realises there’s more to life than heaven.” Cas answers, his face bright. He loved to talk about his character, but there was a lot he couldn’t say yet, for spoiler reasons.

 

“And have you got any reservations about the character?”

 

“Reservations?” Cas cocked his head to the side.

 

“You know, about playing a queer character. What is it like having to kiss a male?”

 

“Well, we haven’t actually started filming those scenes yet, but I’m sure it won’t be much different from kissing a girl on screen either, it’s all acting.”

 

“Will you tell us which of the lucky boys on Not Natural gets to lock lips with you, then?” Rachel asks with a wink. It made Cas slightly uncomfortable.

 

“No spoilers.” Cas grinned.

 

“Darn. So, tell us about your co-stars. What’s it like working with the esteemed Winchester brothers?”

 

Rachel looked like she was about to topple out of her chair in excitement.

 

“They’re great guys. Amazing to work with.” Cas replied simply.

 

“Are you besties with them yet?” Rachel giggled.

 

“Well, Dean and I have become quite close, and I, as you’ve probably noticed, spend a bit of time with Gabriel, too.” Cas answered, remembering the amount of paparazzi he’d seen the last time he’d hung out with Gabriel.

 

“That’s fabulous! So, when is Not Natural returning to our screens? I can’t _wait.”_ Rachel gushed. Cas was pretty sure she was faking.

 

“October Second.”

 

Rachel’s phone suddenly buzzed, and she clicked the recorder off.

 

“That was great, Castiel. Lovely meeting you! One of the nicest celebs I’ve met.”

 

“That’s it?” Cas frowned.

 

“Yep. Ciao!” Becky pressed a kiss to his cheek and walked away, her phone pressed to her ear.

 

Cas would never get used to being a ‘celebrity’.

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

Charlie Bradbury returned to Vancouver in the middle of September, after a brief period of travelling around California, Nevada and Arizona with her girlfriend, Dorothy.

 

The first thing she did was storm into Dean Winchester’s house at 7 am, jump into his bed and hug him.

 

“Jesus, Charlie, how did you get in here?”

 

“Spare key.” Charlie grinned. “I was expecting more of a welcome, y’know.”

 

“It’s like ass o’clock in the morning, Char. Couldn’t you visit me at a normal hour?” Dean groaned, rubbing his eyes.

 

“Don’t complain. You haven’t seen me for _months!”_

 

“We skype and call each other all the time.”

 

“It’s not the _same._ We can’t watch star trek together on skype.”

 

“Well, we actually did that two weeks ago, so…”

 

“I hate that you’re always right.” Charlie sighed.

 

“Glad to see you accepting it.” Dean grinned, running a hand through his hair. Charlie was one of the few people that could wake him up at 7 am and Dean wouldn’t kick them out of the house.

 

“So…”

 

“I know what you’re going to ask, Char, and the answer is mind your own business.”

 

“You do not know!”

 

“Yes I do.”

 

“What was I going to ask, then?”

 

“You were going to ask me about Cas.”

 

“Only because you talk about him all the time on skype, and flirt with him on twitter, and canoodle in grocery stores with, and Gabriel says you flirt _all_ the time.”

 

“Since when do you talk to Gabriel?”

 

“Since he needed my expertise, and don’t deflect, nerd. I want the details. Do you _love_ him, Deanie weenie?” Charlie giggled, poking Dean in the stomach.

 

“Well, you’re- you are a weenie, you weenie.”

 

“Great comeback, Dean.” Charlie smirked.

 

“Shut up. It’s seven am you loser. How’s Dorothy?”

 

“I see right through you and your games, mr subject change, Dorothy is amazing. Now, back to Cas.”

 

“What _about_ Cas?”

 

“You spend a lot of time with him, is all.” Charlie teased.

 

“So? We’re friends.”

 

“But you want to be more?”

 

“Charlie, I’m dating Carmen.”

 

Charlie snorted. “Yeah, right. Look me in the eye and tell me that wasn’t your publicist’s idea and I’ll eat my own shoe.”

 

Dean sighed and didn’t say anything.

 

“I knew it.” Charlie smirked. “Dean, it’s okay if you like Cas.”

 

“God, you’re like the annoying sister I never wanted.” Dean sighed, and suddenly got out of bed.

 

“Where are you going?

 

“ _We_ are going out.”

 

“Out where?”

 

“The movies?”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because you can’t ask me annoying questions in the movie theatre.”

 

“Fine, but I’m choosing the movie, but I doubt there’ll be anything good on at this hour.”

 

“Well then, it’s a good thing we’re going to be there all day.” Dean said with finality, before disappearing into the bathroom.

 

They spent the whole day at the theatre, and Charlie didn’t complain once. 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 ★               ★                ★

 

Cas was running lines in his trailer at eight o’clock at night, mostly because he had nothing better to do, but also because he was worried about the scenes he would have to film next week. He’d just gotten the script that day; and as usual, he’d skipped to where his lines were.

 

There, on the paper in black and white, were the words [ **Jensen pushes Dmitri against the wall roughly and kisses him hard.** ] followed by [ **Dmitri is shocked but responds enthusiastically**.]

 

The paper was now covered in splotches; from the coffee Cas had spit out all over it when he’d seen the words.

 

He was going to have to kiss Dean. Several times. All day, maybe.

 

Cas had known this was coming. In fact, Dmitri’s bisexuality was one of the things he looked forward to exploring the most about the character, but it still didn’t make it less scary.

 

What if Dean thought he was a bad kisser?

 

Okay, maybe Cas wasn’t exactly running lines in his trailer. Having a near panic attack in his trailer was a more apt way of describing it.

 

There was a sudden knock on his trailer door, making Cas shoot up from where he was sitting with wide eyes.

 

“Yes?” Cas calls out. The door opens, and in walks Dean.

 

Of course, of all people in the whole world, it had to be Dean.

 

“Are you okay, Cas?” Dean asked, rushing towards him, grabbing his arms.

 

“Y- yes.” Cas nodded quickly. “I’m fine.”

 

Dean’s eyes scanned Cas’ face. “Bullshit. Are you going to tell me or will I have to force it out of you?”

 

“Force it out of me? How will y-” Cas began, but as Dean’s fingers dug into his ribs, tickling him. Cas dissolved into laughter, his fingers clutching Dean’s shoulders.

 

“D- Dean! S-s-top it!” Cas yelped around his giggles, trying to move away but Dean was stronger.

 

“Do you give in yet?” Dean growled with a smirk.

 

“N-never!” Cas replied.

 

Dean, still tickling Cas, pressed him up against the wall of his trailer and tickled him even harder.

 

“I su-surrender!” Cas suddenly squealed, unable to take anymore. Dean stopped abruptly, but didn’t move his hands. Castiel slumped in his arms, the energy sucked out of him.

 

“Are you going to tell me what’s bothering you, now?” Dean asked in a low voice.

 

“I, I can’t.”

 

Dean pulled away, looking hurt. “Oh, I get it.”

 

“No, Dean, it’s just, uh. Embarrassing.” Cas grimaced.

 

“Oh?” Dean replied with raised eyebrows.

 

“The new scripts.” Cas offered. Dean’s eyes widened in realisation.

 

“You’re bothered by them?” Dean asked, emerald green eyes boring into Cas’.

 

“No, no! Not bothered… nervous.”

 

“Oh.” Dean said, before chuckling softly. “I get it.”

 

“What?”

 

“You’re nervous you won’t be as good a kisser as me.” Dean winked.

 

Yes, that was exactly it.

 

“Hardly.” Cas scoffed. He wasn’t convincing anybody.

 

“Right, so why did you look like you’d seen a wendigo when I walked in, then?”

 

“I, I’m not sure how to kiss someone, you know, on screen.” Cas admitted awkwardly.

 

“It’s not that different from normal kissing, but without tongues and you have to get the right angle.” Dean shrugged.

 

“Oh god.” Cas groaned. “I’m going to suck.”

 

“Well, I don’t think that’s scheduled until further in the season…”

 

“Shut up.” Cas said affectionately.

 

“Do you want me to run lines with you?”

 

“Dean, it’s a Friday night, don’t you have somewhere you’d rather be?”

 

“Nope.” Dean answered honestly.

 

Cas paused for a second, before nodding. “If you don’t mind.”

 

“It’s no problem, really. We’ll have to share the script, though, cause Nicole’s taken mine to highlight and shit.”

 

“You don’t highlight your own script?”

 

“Nah, I let Nic do it. She likes reading the scripts, so she knows what’s going to happen in the episode before everyone else.”

 

“How will we both read it?”

 

“We’ll just do it sitting down, on the couch, that way we can both see.” Dean offered, gesturing to the small leather couch in the corner of the trailer.

 

Cas nodded and went to pick up his script, before dropping down onto the couch. Dean followed shortly after.

 

They read the first scenes without a hitch; their shoulders and hips brushing because of how close they were sitting. Everything was going fine until they got to the last scene. _The_ scene.

 

“Jensen, I can’t do it.” Cas growled in Dmitri’s voice.

 

“Dmitri, you son of a bitch! You _promised.”_ Dean fired back.

_“_ I can’t go with them, I want to stay with you and Jared!”

 

“But it’s _safer_ if you stay with the angels.”

 

“But I’ve fallen, Jensen.”

 

Dean frowned. “Fallen from heaven?”

 

Cas shook his head.

 

The two men paused as their eyes flicked to their script unnecessarily. They both knew what came next. The question went unspoken between them, before Dean leant forward and brushed his lips against Cas’.

 

“Dean?” Cas breathed, eyes wide.

 

“Practice.” Dean said simply.

 

“But the script says you kiss me _hard._ That was terrible.”

 

“Oh, terrible was it?” Dean raised an eyebrow playfully.

 

“Ye-”

 

Dean crushed his lips to Cas’ before he could finish the sentence, as Dean’s arms pulled Cas roughly against him, one hand travelling up to lace in Castiel’s hair.. Cas’ hand moved to the back of Dean’s neck, holding tightly. Dean let out a pleased growl and tightened his hand in Cas’ hair, bending him backwards a bit while he devoured his mouth. His other hand moved over Castiel’s clothed body, feeling his shape and figure, like he wanted to map it in his mind.  


Dean’s phone suddenly chimed in his pocket, making them break apart; spell now broken.

 

“That, was uh, good rehearsing, Cas.” Dean grinned, breathless.

 

Cas nodded. “Yeah, uh. You too, Dean.”

 

Dean realised his hands were still tightly gripping Cas and he dropped him quickly, fishing his phone out of his pocket.

 

**From Carmen >**

**_Where are you, baby?_ **

****

“Fuck.” Dean sighed, standing up quickly.

 

“Dean?”

 

“I’m sorry, Cas, I uh, forgot I had to be somewhere.”

 

“Oh. Okay.”

 

“I’ll see you, Cas.”

 

“Bye Dean.”

 

Their eyes locked for a few moments, but the moment was over as soon as it had begun and before Cas knew what was happening he was alone in the trailer once again; exactly as he’d been before Dean had shown up. The only difference was that Cas was achingly hard and not on the verge of a panic attack anymore. 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

Dean heard the apartment door open and shut and grinned as the sounds of his someone banging around in the hall almost drowned out the TV. Dean tensed, his eyes searching for a possible weapon, in case it was a burglar. There was no need, however; moments later Cas walked into the lounge, barefoot and bedraggled, and climbed over the back of the couch to flop down on the opposite side, tucking his feet under Dean’s legs. Wriggling his toes, he huffed loudly and Dean muted the TV.

 

“Uh, hey?” Dean said, confused.

 

“Hi.” Cas said casually, as though he hadn’t just barged into Dean’s house like he owned the place.

 

“Uh- what are you doing here?”

 

“I thought we could watch the episode together.”

 

“’Coulda called first.” Dean smirked, un-muting the TV, but turning the volume lower.

 

“And miss your panicked who-the-hell-is-in-my-house look? No thanks.” Cas replied, sticking out his tongue.

 

“Well, you’re not the only one-”

 

Before Dean could finish his sentence, the door of his house was banging open again and in walked Charlie.

 

“S’up, bitches?” Charlie said, sitting on the armchair by the couch. “Wait, new bitch. Helloooo.”

 

“Hello.” Cas replied with a smile.

 

“This is Cas, Cas, that’s the biggest nerd you’ll ever meet.” Dean introduced. Charlie’s face brightened visibly, her eyes full of amusement.

 

“ _You’re_ Cas? Wow, you’re even dreamier than Dean said you were.” Charlie winked, looking Cas up and down.

 

“I- I said _no such thing,_ Charlie.” Dean scoffed, his eyes darting between the two.

 

“Whatever. I’m going to get a beer, do you guys want one?” Charlie stood up and headed to the kitchen, not waiting for an answer.

 

Once she’d left the room, Cas looked at Dean with an awkward expression on his face. “I’m sorry, I- I didn’t know that your girlfriend was coming over also. Do- would you- should I leave?”

 

“No!” Dean blurted quickly. “ I mean, you don’t have to leave. I haven’t got a girlfriend, and if I did, no way in hell would it be Charlie.”

 

“Do you not think she’s attractive?”

 

“Not as attractive as her girlfriend thinks she is.” Dean smirked.

 

The realization was visible on Cas’ face. “Oh! Okay. I- I misunderstood.”

 

“It’s okay, Cas.” Dean grinned, and he suddenly realized how close he and Cas were sitting as their eyes locked once again. Flashbacks of the other day bombarded Dean’s mind, making his neck flush red.

 

_If Charlie wasn’t here, would we kiss again?_ Dean asked himself.

 

 “Here you go, nerds.” Charlie exclaimed as she entered the room again clutching beer and a bowl of popcorn, startling the two men on the couch from their intense staring competition. She handed a bottle of beer to each of them, her eyes looking at their legs, which were still touching, for a second too long.

 

“So, Cas, you excited for your TV debut?” Charlie asked, folding her legs beneath her on the armchair and wrapping her arms around the popcorn bowl.

 

“I guess so,” Cas replied, eyes squinted in thought. “I’m not sure I’ll enjoy seeing myself on TV, though.”

 

“Same for everyone, buddy. I remember Char’s first episode, she could barely even watch it.” Dean chuckled, and Charlie threw a popcorn kernel at him.

 

“You’re on Not Natural too?” Cas asked, shocked.

 

“I was only on for a couple of episodes, but I’m coming back soon! Didn’t you recognize me?”

 

Cas shook his head. “I haven’t watched it, really. It’s my sister that’s the big fan.”

 

“That’s a crime! One day, we’ll have to marathon it. Especially the early seasons, Dean is such a dream boat in them!”

 

Dean blushed and threw a cushion at her. “Shut up.”

 

The three of them bantered back and forth for a while, until it was time for the episode to come on. With a refilled bowl of popcorn and fresh bottles of beer, they watched the ‘The road so far’ segment in anticipation.

 

Cas visibly cringed the first time he saw himself on screen. “Oh god, can we turn this off please?” He whined, covering his eyes with his hands.

 

Dean chuckled softly by his side. “Cas, you have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

 

“My voice sounds so weird.”

 

“Yeah, but you look hot as fuck.” Dean quipped, and Cas peeked through his fingers to look at Dean; but his gaze was fixed on the TV, as if he’d said nothing.

 

“Think about it, in a few weeks you’ll have to see yourself kissing on screen.” Dean whispered, sliding closer to Cas. Dean told himself he did it so Cas could hear him easier. He barely even convinced himself.

 

“So will you.” Cas fired back.

 

“I look forward to it.” Dean smirked, making Cas blush slightly. 

 

After the episode was over, Cas received a text from Claire.

 

“Seems like we’re always being cut off by phones, huh Cas?” Dean winked, making Cas blush again as he unlocked his phone.

 

**< From Claire **

****

**_Where are you? You need to come home right now!!_ **

****

**To Claire >**

**_What’s happened? Are you okay?_ **

**< From Claire**

****

**_Just come quick!!_ **

****

Cas sighed and tucked his phone into his pocket. “I have to go.” Cas said to Dean, his voice laced with disappointment; matching the look in Dean’s eyes.

 

“What?” Dean replied, before lowering his voice. “Did I make you uncomfortable, y’know, earlier?”

 

“No, no. It’s Claire, something’s happened and I have to go home.” Cas stood up and went to find his shoes.

 

“Is she okay?” Dean asked, worried.

 

“She didn’t say.” Cas answered once he’d put his shoes on. Dean stood up and handed Cas his jacket.

 

“I want you to text me and let me know, okay?” Dean told him, and Cas nodded.

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Dean.” Cas said, before disappearing out of the room. Dean fell back onto the couch with a sigh.

 

“Aw, are you sad because your boyfriend’s gone?” Charlie said in a baby voice.

 

“Be quiet, Bradbury.”

 

“I want you to text me and let me know, okay?” Charlie said in a deep voice, impersonating Dean. “Cas, I love you so much and I want you to be my baby daddy.”

 

“Why the hell am I friends with you?” Dean hid his face behind a cushion to hide his blush.

 

“Because you love me, bitch. It’s not my fault you give me loads of teasing material to use because you’re so in love with Cas. ”

 

Dean sighed, dropping the cushion. He couldn’t even argue with her.

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

Cas drove home faster than the speed limit, worry itching beneath his skin, different scenarios of dangerous things going through his mind like a slideshow.

 

When he got home, however, Cas didn’t see bloodstains on the porch or smashed windows. The only thing out of the ordinary was a sleek black car parked in the driveway, which could belong to anyone; maybe Nicole or one of Claire’s other friends.

 

Something told Cas that wasn’t the case, though.

 

“Claire?” Cas called as he entered the house, dropping his keys in the bowl by the door. “Where are you?”

 

“In the kitchen!” Came her voice in reply. Cas sighed in relief, at least he knew she hadn’t been kidnapped or sold to the circus.

 

Cas made his way to the kitchen with trepidation growing in his stomach. When he got there, he was faced with the sight of Claire leaning against the counter, two mugs of coffee by her side.

 

Cas frowned, stepping into the room. “What’s going on?”

 

Claire blinked, and her eyes locked onto a spot behind Cas’ head. Slowly, Cas turned around.

 

“Hello, little brother.” A man said, a man with piercing blue eyes and blonde hair. Or rather, piercing blue eyes and blonde hair that Cas recognised.

 

Castiel gasped. “Lucifer?” 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so someone pointed out that the term 'queer' can be used as derogatory and I just want to point out that's not the intended use of the term in this fic, it's used more as an umbrella term because it's not been specified whether the character is gay/bisexual/etc so I can't just say 'gay'.

“It’s nice to see you, Castiel.” Lucifer grinned, but made no move to get closer to Cas. “I’ve been meaning to come visit you.”

“How did you find me?” Cas asked, his face pale and eyes wide; like a rabbit caught in headlights.

“I saw the commercial for that cute little TV show you’re in. How quaint.” Lucifer smirked, suddenly stepping closer to Cas with an intimidating air around him.

“Doesn’t explain why you’re here.” Cas deadpanned.

“I wanted to see my little brother, is that illegal now?” Lucifer was less than a foot away from Castiel by now.

“Lucif-” Claire began.

“Claire, could you give us a sec?” Lucifer asked, not even looking at the girl, as if she was beneath him.

“No.” Claire replied, crossing her arms. Castiel gave her a pleading look.

“Claire, it’s okay.” Cas assured, and Claire exited the room with a sigh.

“So, I’ve heard you’ve been buddying up with those mud monkeys.” Lucifer murmured, a cocky smirk on his face.

“Mud monkeys?” Cas cocked his head, confused.

“The Winchesters, Gabriel Trickston, et cetera.”

“They’re not mud monkeys, Lucifer.”

“Oh, really? They’re just small time tv actors who think they’re bigshots. I pity them, to be honest.” Lucifer mused, nodding to himself as if agreeing with what he was saying.

“Lucifer, is there any purpose of you being here except to insult my friends?”

“ _Friends?_ Really, Cassie? ‘Cause I have it on good authority that you and Dean Winchester are quite the item.” Lucifer smirked. “But we can’t have that.”

“Me and Dean are just friends, Lucifer, and even if we weren’t, it’s nothing to do with you.” Cas muttered with a glare.

“Nothing to do with me?” Lucifer grinned. “It’s everything to do with me, Castiel.”

“How?”

“There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Cassie. I’m not just a famous movie actor, you know. I rebelled, I was cast out of the family, you rebelled, even though there was no one left to rebel against, really. We're on the same side, like it or not, so, why not just serve your own best interests which in this case just happen to be mine.” The snark and amusement had drained from Lucifer’s gaze, now his eyes were full of cold, ruthless calculation.

“What do you want me to do, Lucifer?” Castiel frowned.

“Come back to Hollywood with me, Cassie. We can rule it, together. Imagine all the power we would have! Normal people don’t understand the power that celebrities have, you know. They’re practically a cult, the fans.”

“You’re being ridiculous, Lucifer. You want me to move to Hollywood with you, to be in movies? I have a job here.”

“You’re on a silly little TV show, Castiel! There will be much better things in Hollywood. Think of the riches, the fame!”

Cas paused, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinised Lucifer.  “There’s something you’re not telling me, isn’t there?”

Lucifer’s eyes darted quickly. “Like I said, there’s a lot of things that you don’t know, yet.”

“So tell me, why should I trust you? Why should I go to Hollywood with you?” Castiel asked simply.

“Because you’re my brother.”

“I have a contract with Not Natural.” Castiel countered. “I can’t just leave.”

Lucifer looked angered, fire burning in his icy blue eyes. “Fine, but this? This isn’t over, Castiel. I will get you in the end, if it’s the last thing I do.” Lucifer shoved past Castiel and stormed out of the door, leaving Cas confused in his wake.

“What the hell was that about?” Claire asked as she re-entered the room, from where she had been, no doubt, hiding and listening to the brothers’ conversation.

“No idea. It didn’t sound good, though.”

“I’m going to do some research on him. Find out what he meant by ‘things you don’t understand’, the ominous son of a bitch.” Claire growled, protectiveness rising in her.

“Claire, you don’t need to do that.”

“I want to.” She said simply, looking into Cas’ eyes stubbornly. He nodded with a sigh, giving in to her.  “Cas, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Claire, why do you ask?”

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, you’re breathing heavier than a marathon runner and you’re shaking like a leaf.” Claire said, frowning. Castiel looked down at his body with surprise- he was trembling and breathing hard; he hadn’t even noticed.

The doorbell suddenly rang, startling them.

“I’ll get it, it’s probably Nic anyway.” Claire said with a tight smile, flicking her pink-tipped hair over her shoulder. “You go to bed, read a book, take a nap, whatever.”

Cas nodded thankfully, before turning on his heels and almost running to his bedroom. He threw himself down on his king sized bed, which was covered with a thick navy comforter. Hidden under his pillow was a worn, yet soft, tan coloured blanket, similar to the colour of a trench coat, Castiel often thought. It was a secret that Claire didn’t even know about- when Castiel was scared, worried, angry or all of the above, he got comfort from holding the blanket. Yes, holding- _definitely_ not snuggling it.

Okay, he might snuggle it. Sometimes.

Castiel grabbed the blanket and pulled it to his chest as he took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He wasn’t sure what he’d gotten so worked up about, but it didn’t feel great.

Cas squeezed his eyes closed and focused on his breathing.

He focused so hard he didn’t hear the door of his room opening.

“Cas?”

Cas flinched, turning to see Dean entering his room with a worried look on his face.

“Dean? What are you doing here?” Castiel asked, surprised etched all over his face.

“I- you, I was worried. You didn’t call, and I was worried something bad happened and I wanted to check on you.” Dean admitted, his eyes focused on the cream coloured carpet beneath his feet.

A peculiar warmth blossomed in Castiel’s chest at his words and his face broke into a bright smile. It held for a few seconds until he remembered what had happened with Lucifer. Castiel moved to a sitting position, feeling awkward on his back for some reason.

“What’s wrong?” Dean asked, concerned.

Castiel chuckled darkly. “I don’t know whether I should be mad or impressed that you can read me so well, Dean.”

“Definitely im- wait, is that a blanket?” Dean asked, eyes fixed on the object still clutched against Cas’ chest.

“Nope. Definitely not.” Castiel shook his head, jumping up and hiding the blanket behind his back.

Dean grinned, walking over to Cas. “It is! Let me see it.”

Castiel shook his head again trying to suppress his laughter, as Dean tried to move behind Cas; but Cas spun in Dean’s arm so the man couldn’t see what was behind his back.

“Cas.” Dean whined as they spun around each other, until Dean decided he’d had enough and wrapped his arms around Cas’ waist, trapping him. Dean pried the blanket from Cas’ hands.

“You’re so adorable, Cas.” Dean grinned with bright eyes.

“Are you done embarrassing me now?” Castiel asked, his cheeks bright red.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Cas.” Dean assured, and the teasing lilt to his voice had disappeared. “We all get comfort from somewhere, right?” Dean handed the blanket back to Cas, who sat back down on his bed cross legged. “Yours is just softer than others.”

“I guess.”

Dean smiled, before sitting opposite Cas on the bed. “Are you going to tell me what happened now?”

Castiel took a deep breath before nodding, his fingers clutching the blanket tighter absentmindedly. “My brother, he wants me to go to Hollywood with him, to ‘rule’, apparently.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“My brother, Lucifer. Otherwise known as Mark Pellegrino.”

Dean gaped, his eyes wide with shock. “Your brother is Mark Pellegrino?”

Cas nodded.

“He wants you to move to Hollywood with him?”

Cas nodded again.

Dean hesitated. “Are- are you going to?”

Cas averted his eyes. “He’s my brother, Dean.”

“So? You told me that Lucifer hasn’t even spoken to you for years, Cas.”

“You moved up to Vancouver when Sam got the job on Not Natural.” Cas countered.

“That’s different.”

“Is it?”

“Yes! I wasn’t leaving anything behind. All I had was Sammy. You have a TV show and friends and a house, goddamnit!”

“You don’t want me to go.” Castiel realised with a small smile.

Dean blinked. “Of course I don’t want you to go.” He whispered.

“Why?”

“You’re basically my best friend, that’s why.”

“Oh.”

They were silent for a few moments, the weight of each other’s words hanging heavy in the air.

“So.”  Dean grinned, trying to lighten the mood. “What’s the deal with you and blankie here?”

Castiel cocked his head. “What do you mean?

“Well is it one of those I-can’t-live-without-it or more i-like-to-cuddle-it-occasionally kinda set up?”

“The second one.” Castiel replied.

Dean almost cursed out loud. He didn’t think it was possible for him to be jealous of a little tan blanket but here he was. God, he was pathetic. It was like he was getting a crush on Cas or someth-

Dean blinked rapidly, trying to postpone the inevitable freak out. “I- I should go. I’m up early tomorrow, and, yeah. Now that I know you’re okay I can sleep easy.”

“Oh. Okay, Dean. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Castiel smiled.

Dean stood up. “Bye, Cas.”

  _And goodbye to you, stupid fucking blanket_ , Dean thought as he walked out.

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

Castiel had gotten his filming schedule for the week of Hannah the other day- and it turned out that the next Tuesday, he and Dean would be shooting the kissing scenes that afternoon.

To say he was freaking out would be an understatement.

“Cassie!” Gabriel yelled, sliding into the bench next to Cas. It was their lunch break, only an hour before the dreaded filming would begin and half of the cast and crew would see Cas and Dean kissing.

“Hello, Gabriel.” Castel replied. Gabriel slid a sandwich in front of Cas with a grin.

“Here, you need your energy, angel eyes.” He said.

Castiel smiled in thanks and took the sandwich and unwrapped it, taking a bite. “Thanks, Gabe.” Castiel said around a mouthful of bread.

“Oh, it’s my pleasure.” Gabriel had a mischievous look in his eyes. Castiel was just about to ask him about it when he felt something crunch in his mouth.

Castiel looked down at the sandwich in his hand.

There were legs sticking out of it.

Grasshopper legs.

“Gabriel!” Cas shouted, spitting out the mouthful of sandwich and throwing the rest on Gabriel, who was guffawing out of control and clutching the lunch table for dear life.

“I did that to Dean just five minutes ago and he fell for it, too!” Gabriel said around loud laughter, as Castiel glared at him with icy eyes.

“I hate you.” Cas huffed.

“I’m not called ‘the trickster’ for no reason, grasshopurus angelicus.” Gabe winked, wiping tears off his face. _It feels good to be pranking again_ , he thought to himself.

“I am going to get you back for that, you assbutt.” Castiel growled, getting up from the lunch table. He spun around and begin to walk away, but ended up smacking into someone else’s body.

“Wow, watch where you’re going, Casanova.” Dean said, clutching Cas’ shoulders and pushing him away slightly.

“I’m sorry, Dean.” Castiel answered, sending a glare over his shoulder to Gabriel. Dean noticed and winced in sympathy.

“Grasshoppers?” He guessed.

Castiel nodded.

Dean smiled slowly, grabbing Cas’ elbow and towing him a few feet away. “Want to know a secret?”

Castiel squinted his eyes. “Uh, sure?”

“Me and Charlie have been plotting a prank to get back at him. And I mean, a _big_ prank.” Dean grinned proudly.

“What is the plan?”

“Well, uh, we haven’t exactly thought of it yet.” Dean rubbed the back of his neck. “But if you were to help us, maybe we could think of something. You want to get revenge, right?”

“Very much so.” Castiel nodded.

“Awesome.” Dean answered.

“Dean, they need you in hair and make-up.” Nicole suddenly appeared, clutching an earpiece and notebook. Dean nodded, and turned to Cas with a smirk.

 “Now, go brush your teeth. When we kiss I don’t want any stray grasshopper limbs getting into my mouth.” He winked.

Cas grimaced, remembering the sensation of bugs in his mouth. “See you later.”

He brushed his teeth four times.

An hour and a half later, after a slight set delay, Castiel and Dean were in full costume and standing less than a foot apart, saying their lines as a big camera stood big and intimidating next to them. Cas felt like there was a hoard of butterflies having a dance party in his stomach.

“I can’t go with them, I want to stay with you and Jared!” Cas exclaimed in Dmitri’s voice.

“But it’s safer if you stay with the angels.” Dean countered.

Cas was barely coherent, his mind replaying the moment he and Dean kissed in his trailer.

“But I’ve fallen, Jensen.”

Dean frowned. “Fallen from heaven?”

Cas shook his head.

Like the director had told them to do, Dean clutched Cas’ face and pressed his lips to Castiel’s with bruising force, pushing him into the wall behind him. Their bodies fit together like a puzzle as Castiel responded with enthusiasm, his arms locking behind around Dean and holding him close. Cas was almost disappointed they couldn’t use tongues.

Dean pulled away, breathing heavily.

“Jensen?” Cas whispered.

“Shh, Dmitri. You don’t have to say anything.” Dean breathed in return.

“ _Cut!_ That was great, guys!” The director yelled, clapping his hands together twice.

“It was like a porno!” Gabriel yelled from somewhere near the snack table.

 “We need to do the kiss a few more times, the lighting needs to be changed.” The director frowned.

Dean and Cas shared an awkward look. It was going to be a long day.

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

★               ★                ★

**To Dean >**

**_Did you know a cat’s penis is sharply barbed? and a penguin proposes to its mate with a pebble?_ **

**To Dean >**

**_Worms communicate by snuggling._ **

**< From Dean**

**_Thank u, Cas-apedia. anything else?_ **

**To Dean >**

**_Cows have best friends. A group of flamingos is called a flamboyance._ **

**< From Dean**

**_that all?_ **

**To Dean >**

**_Humans named Castiel are terrible at choosing Halloween costumes and require assistance from other humans named Dean Winchester_ **

**< From Dean**

**_Are u asking me to go shopping with u, Cas? chick flick alert!!_ **

**To Dean >**

**_yes._ **

**< From Dean**

**_this weekend, i promise_ **

 

★               ★                ★ 

“Dean, this is hopeless.” Cas pouted, standing in front of the dressing room curtain with his arms crossed. He was wearing a bright pink rabbit costume with a fake carrot clutched in his hand.

“Cas, buddy, you look great.” Dean chuckled, clapping his hand on his shoulder.

“I do not.” Castiel frowned.

“Fine, let’s keep lookin’, eh?” Dean offered, handing Cas a few more choices that one of the shop workers had gotten for him.

“I don’t want any animal costumes, Dean.”

“But you’d look great as a cat!” Dean exclaimed, holding up a pair of fluffy ears.

Castiel shook his head slowly.

“Okay, okay!” Dean said, throwing his arms up in defeat. “Go and try them on.”

The next time Cas came out, he was dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow.

“Dude.” Dean gaped.

“I don’t understand the reference, Dean.”

“You haven’t seen pirates of the carribean?”

“No, and I don’t like this wig. It’s itchy.” Castiel said, returning behind the curtain to try on another outfit. He went through several more outfits; a cowboy, an astronaut, a vampire, the hulk and a green outfit that Dean said was called peter pan. Neither of them looked right in Cas’ opinion, but to Dean, they _all_ did.

Castiel sighed and pulled on his sweater and went back outside to Dean.

“No luck?” The store worker, a chipper blonde woman asked as he came out. Her name tag read Donna.

Castiel shook his head awkwardly, trying not to seem ungrateful.

“Well we do have a selection of couple’s costumes…” Donna smiled, looking between Dean and Cas expectantly.

“Couple’s costumes?” Castiel frowned, narrowing his eyes.

“We’re not-” Dean said awkwardly as his cheeks tinged.

Donna took no notice, instead gesturing for them to follow her and skipping through the store. She pointed to a rack of costumes with a big grin. “See? We have Mickey and Minnie,  Marge and Homer-“

“We don’t-” Dean tried again, but Donna took no notice as she carried on listing the costumes they had on offer.

“Beast and Belle, Batman and the Joker, Captain America and the winter soldier…”

“Wait- Batman and the Joker?” Dean almost yelped excitedly. He turned to Cas with a bright, hopeful smile on his face.

“Cas, we should definitely dress up as Batman and the Joker together.” Dean exclaimed loudly, grabbing the costume off of the rack.

 “Okay, but you’re Batman.” Castiel grinned.

“Duh, Cas. I know I’m batman.” Dean rolled his eyes mockingly. He handed Cas the joker costume and they headed off to the changing rooms to change. Donna watched them excitedly.

“Cas, dude, we look _awesome_.” Dean said once they’d both gotten dressed. “You’ll look even better once you put the Joker make-up on!”

Castiel’s eyes scanned Dean’s body, clad in black batman clothes. Cas could only see Dean’s eyes through the mask, making them stand out even more than they usually did.

“Do you want the costumes?” Donna asked them.

“Yes.” Dean and Cas answered simultaneously.

While they were changing back to their costumes, Dean’s phone rang. Cas had already gotten his clothes back on and frowned at Dean’s phone, which was resting on the couch outside of the dressing room quite stupidly.

“Cas, could ya’ get that?” Dean called from behind the curtain. Cas picked up the phone and answered; it was Sam.

“Hello?”

“ _Dean!”_

“Not Dean, just his secretary.”

_“Cas?”_

“Yes.”

 _“Oh, I didn’t know you and Dean were spending the day together_.”

“Yes, we’re buying Halloween costumes.” Castiel explained.

 _“Oh, that sounds, uh- nice._ ” Sam sounded like he was laughing. “ _Anyway, you guys need to come to the Roadhouse as fast as you can.”_

“What?”

“ _Trust me, Cas! It’s very important that you two come here right away.”_

“We’ll be there soon.”

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★ 

“Cas said Dean and he are coming soon. That was like a half hour ago so they should be here soon.” Sam said to the group who had collected at the Roadhouse. Gabriel perked up, interested.

“ _Cas_ said? Why is he answering Dean-o’s phone?”

“They’re apparently buying Halloween costumes.” Sam grinned, sitting down next to Bela and slipping an arm around her, pulling her tight to his chest.

“How domestic.” Balthazar smirked.

“Probably fucking in the dressing rooms, too.” Gabriel said with a wolfish grin and wiggling eyebrows.

Sam rolled his eyes. “You know they’re just friends, Gabe.”

“For now.” Gabriel stuck out his tongue.

Suddenly, Cas and Dean were striding into the bar with happy smiles on their faces. Gabriel was surprised he didn’t see them holding hands or something.

“This better be important, Sammy.” Dean warned teasingly as he and Cas joined the group, sitting in the empty chairs Sam had saved. Ash, who had seen them walk in, brought a couple of beers over to them.

“Oh, it is.” Sam grinned, almost shaking with excitement. It reminded Cas of the time he announced he was moving in with Bela.

“Me and Bela have big news.” Sam announced.

“I’m getting déjà vu.” Dean groaned, obviously remembering the same thing Cas had.

“Dean, you’re ruining the moment.” Sam said with bitch face #26.

“Sorry.” Dean said solemnly, mouth twitching to keep his laughter inside, looking like a scolded school boy. Castiel dug him in the ribs with a finger. Dean countered with an elbow shove, and Castiel slapped him on the shoulder.

“Can you two stop for one second?” Bela asked.

“Aye aye, captain.” Dean saluted, making Cas break out into ‘manly’ giggles.

Both Sam and Bela rolled their eyes.

“Anyway, as I was saying, we have some big news…” Sam began with twinkling eyes. He reached for Bela’s left hand and held it up. “Me and Bela are engaged.”

The group was silent for a few seconds as everyone took in the news.

Dean was the one to break the silence. "... Does this mean Bela's going to be my new sister-in-law?"

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this chapter is kinda different to the others, seeing as there's only two parts, but I cut the last scene out to be able to update faster and that scene will be in the next chapter instead. For now, however, enjoy these halloween themed shenanigans!!

 

A few days later, Dean was strewn across the couch in his trailer, reading lazily over the new script he’d gotten. Cas wasn’t working until next week, and Sam was off somewhere with Bela most of the time meaning Dean was bored as hell. He couldn’t wait until Charlie started shooting again.

There was a sudden knock on the door and the sound of someone climbing the steps to the trailer loudly. Only one person was big enough to make sounds like that.

“Dean, are you in here?” Sam called, sticking his head in the door. Dean almost expected Bela’s head to join it.

“Yup.” Dean answered shortly, letting his eyes fall back to the script. He hadn’t spoken to Sam since the announcement at the bar the other day, and to be perfectly honest he wasn’t sure he wanted to.

“It seems like we haven’t spoken in years!” Sam laughed as he came into the trailer,  sitting backwards in one of Dean’s wooden chairs. “It’s like you’re avoiding me or something.” He joked.

Dean stonily glared at the script in his hand, his eyes zeroing in on the word ‘angry’ quite ironically. He didn’t say a word.

“You- you _were_ avoiding me, weren’t you?”

Dean shrugged.

“You seemed fine on twitter. What’s your problem?” Sam frowned, directing his puppy eyes at Dean’s face, which was turned away from him.

“Nothing, Sam. I’m fine.” Dean replied, as if it were some kind of routine. I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine. Dean felt like a broken record.

“Is this about Bela? Do you not like her or something?”

“I like Bela just fine.” Dean said, his mouth drawn tight.

“Then why are you being such a jerk, Dean?”

_“Me_ a jerk?” Dean almost exploded, his eyes meeting Dean’s for the first time that day. “You know, I thought us being brothers meant something, Sammy. You move in with Bela and propose to her, without telling me first? And when you _do_ tell me, it’s in the Roadhouse with everyone else there?”

“That’s why you’re pissy, then.” Sam said simply.

“Give the kid a prize.”

“I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, Dean, I… I thought you’d be happy for me.”

Dean sighed, guilt settling in his stomach. “You know I’m happy for you, Sammy.”

“Thanks, Dean.” Sam smiled. “Have you stopped sulking now?”

Dean shrugged, a half smile on his face. “’Guess so.” He could never stay mad at Sam for long. It was physically impossible for him to do so.

“Good, because I need to ask you something.”

“If you’re going to ask me to be your unborn child’s god father, the answer is no.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Bela’s not pregnant, jerk.”

“Not _yet._ ” Dean wiggled his eyebrows.

“Stop being silly, Dean.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“Me and Bela have decided we want out wedding to be in March, like mom and dad’s wedding was.” Sam said with a grin.

Dean raised his eyebrows. “ _March?_ A bit soon, isn’t it?”

“We don’t think so.” Sam shrugged. “Anyway, Bela’s already chosen her bridesmaids-”

“Who?” Dean cut across.

“Charlie, Meg, Dorothy, and Bela’s step-sister Madison, but that’s not the _point._ Dean, I want you to be my best man.”

Dean’s head jerked up. “You- what?”

Sam grinned, his eyes bright and excited. “I want you to be my best man, Dean.”

“Really?” Dean asked, his eyes wet, not that that tidbit would ever leave the confines of his trailer.

“Who else would I pick, dumbass?”

Dean got up and pulled Sam into a bear hug. “I’m so proud of you Sammy. Proud of us.”

“Me too, Dean. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was planning on proposing sooner.”

“It’s okay, you can make it up to me by having an open bar and a pie table at your wedding.” Dean winked, but he was being one hundred percent serious.

Sam shook his head with an affectionate sigh. “You and your damn pie, Dean. There will be no pie table at my wedding." 

"There better be, bitch, or I'm not getting you a gift."

Sam frowned, struggling to hide his smile. "Blackmailing jerk."

"Pie hating bitch."

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

Bela and Sam decided to have a Halloween party slash engagement party at their new house on October 31st\- any excuse to see Sam dressed up had Bela happy- she’d bought him a pair of moose antlers the second they’d made the decision. They’d decided to go as a weird version of Beauty and the Beast, except in their case it was Beauty and the Moose.

Charlie decided to go as the Little Mermaid, and Dorothy her name-sake from the Wizard of Oz. Claire was going as a zombie cheerleader, Nicole was going as a demon, and Gabriel was going as a porn star- surprising to no one.

Of course, Dean and Cas were going as the Joker and Batman- and no one else would comment on the fact they had a couples costume; but they were all thinking it.

The party was supposed to be small; supposed being the operative word.

Castiel and Claire arrived at nine pm, _fashionably late,_ Claire claimed. In reality, it was that Cas had taken an hour to put on his joker make-up, only to find out the white paint itched so he had to take it all off. Claire had attacked him with one of her lipsticks before they’d left the house, meaning he looked like he’d been making out with someone very messily.

The party was far from the small gathering it was supposed to have been, and there was so many people there, Cas nor Claire could see their friends anywhere. After getting drinks from the kitchen and walking around aimlessly for a while, they bumped into a suspicious-looking Gabriel.

“You’re here!” Gabe exclaimed with a cheesy smile. “We were beginning to think you weren’t going to show.”

“Nice moustache, Gabe.” Claire giggled, looking Gabe up and down.

“Thanks, m’lady.” Gabriel grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. His moustache jiggled when he spoke.

“Where is everyone?” Cas asked, eyes scanning the people around them.

“By everyone, you mean Batman, right?” Gabriel winked, before leaning in to whisper in Cas’ ear. “This is just the decoy party. The real one is upstairs.”

Gabriel lead the siblings down a few hallways, until they reached a locked door. Gabe unlocked it swiftly, revealing a wooden staircase.

Cas and Claire shared a look, wondering if this was another one of Gabriel’s pranks, but they followed him up the stairs anyway. There was another door at the top, which opened into a big living room- bigger than the one downstairs. Their friends were milling about on the two leather couches in the middle of the room, drinking and eating chips.

“I feel like Anne Frank.” Cas frowned, shutting the door behind them. The group on the couch turned to look at the newcomers, hearing Cas’ voice.

“Cas!” Dean exclaimed, waving them over. “Dude! What happened to your make-up?”

Cas, Claire and Gabe went over to the couches. Claire, spotting Nicole on the ground by the TV, went to join her.

“I was uh, allergic, I think.” Cas replied, settling down on the couch beside Dean, which was the only empty spot on either couch, weirdly.

“Hi, Cas!” Charlie grinned from beside Dean. “This is Dorothy.” She introduced, gesturing to the girl who was sat on the floor, her head resting on Charlie’s legs, or rather, tail.

“Hello, Charlie, Dorothy.” Cas smiled. “Nice tail.”

“Thanks. I made it myself.” Charlie said proudly. Unlike most Little Mermaid costumes, instead of a bikini top, Charlie wore chainmail armour. Noticing Cas looking, Charlie explained; “I’m a warrior mermaid.”

“That’s very original.” Castiel told them, smiling around the lip of his beer bottle.

“So, what took you so long to get here?” Dean asked. His Batman mask had been pulled up, so it was only covering his forehead, meaning Castiel could see all of his face.

“Make-up malfunction.” Cas grinned. “But also, Claire wanted to be fashionably late or something, but she did seem to take a long time deciding if she looked okay to come here. I’m pretty sure she broke the record for how many times someone can look at a mirror in one day.”

Dean nodded, his eyes moving to look at Claire and Nicole, sitting closely on the ground, sharing a bowl of popcorn. “Probably wanted to look cool in front of Nic.” Dean said to Cas, a glint in his eyes.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, uh, usually when people want to be fashionably late, they want to impress someone, and she probably wanted to look nice when she did come, so Nicole would think she looked hot.”

“I understand that, but do you really think Claire… _likes_ Nicole that way?” Cas cocked his head to the side, squinting at the girls.

Dean side-eyed him like he’d grown a second head. “Dude, are you blind? Of course she does! Nicole likes her, too.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Cas, man, it’s obvious.”

“Is it?”

“Don’t you know how to tell if someone has a crush?”

Cas shook his head.

“Well, they hang out a lot.” Dean began.

“Claire and Nicole _do_ spend a lot of time together.” Cas mused. “What else?”

“Well, uh, they try to look nice in front of them.”

“Go on.”

“Laugh at their jokes and tease them a lot.” As if on cue, Nicole and Claire broke into loud laughter, and Nicole hit Claire on the arm softly. Dean gave Cas a pointed look.

“They also have a lot of physical contact and will use any excuse to hug them or whatever.” Dean finished, nodding his head to the girls once again- their shoulders were brushing. “See?”

Cas nodded with a slight frown. “God, do I have to have the sex talk with my little sister?” He asked, horrified.

“They’re both girls, what would you know about that?”                    

“Good point.” Cas said, thankful. “Does Nicole like Claire, too?”

“Yes.” Dean said firmly.

“You seem sure.”

“Yeah, me and Nic, we tell each other everything, if you get what I mean.” Dean grinned.

Sam and Bela, who were sitting on the other couch with Balthazar, suddenly stood up and grabbed a few bottles of alcohol off of a nearby table. “Guys, let’s play truth or dare!” Sam exclaimed, his face flushed and moose antlers wonky.

Dean groaned, rolling his eyes. “No way.”

“Dean-o, don’t be a party pooper!” Gabriel yelled, from his spot on the ground a few feet away next to Madison.

“We’re not in high school, Gabe.”

“I am.” Claire pointed out. Nicole poked her in the ribs with a gasp.

“No beer for you, then.” Nicole winked, snatching the drink out of Claire’s hand and downing the contents.

“Come on, Dean! I’m engaged.” Sam pouted, using his full force puppy eyes on Dean, who inevitably caved.

“Fine, but I need to get way drunker if we’re gonna play it.” Dean sighed, reaching for the bottle of whiskey on the table in front of him and taking a few gulps.

Gabriel cheered and stood up. “We need to sit in a circle.”

“Really, Gabe?” Balthazar asked.

“Gabe is right!” Sam shouted. “Come, come! Over here!” He practically galloped over to a patch of carpet with no furniture on it, big enough for them all to sit there.

Ten minutes later, with a lot of grumbling and drinking from Dean, they were all sat in a circle.

“I want to go first!” Cas shouted. “Can I, Sam?”

Sam nodded.

“Claire.” Cas turned on his sister with a mischievous look. “Truth or dare, little sister?”

“Well, seeing as the last time we played this you dared me to run to the store in flippers and a bikini, I choose truth.”

Cas smirked, as if knowing she’d pick that option. “Claire, do you have a crush on anyone right now?”

Claire blushed, and ran a black-nailed hand through her hair. She glanced at Nicole quickly before nodding.

“Who?” Gabriel asked, jumping up and down with excitement beside Castiel.

“It’s not your turn, Gabe.” Claire smiled, but her cheeks were still red. “Cas, truth or dare?”

Cas gulped. Stupidly, he hadn’t forseen this, but he knew he was fucked either way. Claire was either going to ask him something embarrassing or make him do something embarrassing- there was no escaping it.

“Uh- truth?” Castiel said hesitantly.

Claire smirked, looking evil. “Why don’t you tell the group about the Uriel incident, Cassie?”

Castiel’s face paled, his eyes widening. He shook his head sharply. “No way, Claire. Anything but that.”

Claire shook her head, tutting. “Ah, ah, ah! You chose truth, now you tell us the truth, or you have to do a forfeit.”

“What?”

“If you don’t answer, you have to take your clothes off and go downstairs and do the Macarena on a table in front of everyone.” Claire grinned.

“I hate you so much, Claire.” Castiel groaned.

“C’mon, Cas! You can’t leave us hangin’, we’re all curious now.” Dean grinned from his seat next to Cas. The others all chimed in, asking Cas about the story.

“Fine, fine!” Castiel caved. “It was the night before spring break last year. I- I had spent the night at my uh, friend’s dorm-

“By friend you mean girlfriend, right?” Gabe asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, nudging him with his arm.

“No, Gabe, I mean a friend.”

“With benefits?”

“Yes! Now shut up.” Cas admitted, shocking Gabriel into silence. “Anyway. The next morning I went to take a shower and I came back to find my clothes gone, and his dorm room locked- he’d already left for spring break.”

The whole group raised their eyebrows at the use of a male pronoun, but no one brought it up.

“So there I was, naked, dripping wet,” Cas felt Dean tense up by his side. “And the dorms were empty. I tried calling Claire to come get me, but she wouldn’t pick up. So I decided to try and run to another friend’s dorm to see if I could borrow some clothes and hoped that everyone had already left for spring break and no one would see me. I was halfway to the dorm, when-” Cas tried to push away the laughter that was threatening to burst out of him. “When this big bus passed me and beeped it’s horn- full of college kids leaving for spring break. They all saw me, and I mean _all_ of me. I never lived it down.”

The group was silent for 0.3 seconds until Gabriel exploded with laughter, causing a chain reaction of loud guffaws from the rest of them, while Cas sat with his head in his hands, face burning hot.

“Oh man, that is the funniest thing I’ve heard in _ages!_ ” Dean exclaimed, his hand clutching Castiel’s thigh subconsciously as he laughed.

“I’m glad you find my terror amusing, Dean.” Castiel muttered, earning another round of laughter.

“Okay, okay.” Gabriel said once they’d all calmed down. “Cassie, seeing as you’ve already had a turn I’m going to go next. Balth, truth or dare?”

“Dare. I believe I’m feeling daring.” Balthazar said, eyes challenging Gabriel to do his worst.

“Balthy, I dare you to kiss the most attractive person here.”

“I’m assuming you think you fit that description, darling?” Balthazar asked wryly.

 Gabriel shrugged. “If the shoe fits…”

Balthazar smirked, before leaning in towards Gabriel… before moving at the last second and kissing Castiel on the lips, who flailed with surprise but didn’t move away. After a few seconds, they broke apart.

“Ouch, Balthy. You wound me.” Gabriel groaned, clutching his chest. Everyone laughed, except for Castiel and Dean.

Dean was stiff as a board next to Cas, eyes stony and cold, while Cas was blushing like a beacon.

“Wow, Cassie, was that your first Vancouver kiss? You lost your Canadian kissing virginity! Was Balthy a good kisser, angel face?” Gabriel gushed in a high-pitched voice, batting his eyes at Cas.

“Shut up, Gab-”

“You know, Gabe.” Balthazar grinned. “I don’t think that was long enough to judge on my kissing skills.”

“You’re right! Cas, kiss Balthy again.”

“It’s not your turn, Gabriel.” Dean muttered darkly.

“Wow, Dean-o! Who pissed in your cheerios?”

Dean did not answer, instead clenching his fists tighter.

“We should carry on with the game.” Bela said awkwardly, trying to diffuse the tension.

“Cassie, I dare you to kiss Gabe, and then tell us which is the better kisser.” Balthazar said, not making the situation any better.

Castiel fidgeted awkwardly, unsure of what to do. He didn’t know why Dean was so angry or why the air in the room was almost stifling, but he didn’t want to make anything worse  by kissing Gabriel.

“I don’t think-”

“You don’t want to do the Macarena naked, do you Cas?” Claire chimed in. Nicole looked awkward by her side as she shared a glance with Dean. She looked like the only person in the room who understood what was going on.

“He doesn’t have to-” Nicole tried, but before she’d even finished her sentence she was met with cries of outrage from Balthazar, Sam and Claire.

Castiel sighed and turned to face Gabe, grabbing the back of his neck and pulling him closer. He brushed his lips to Gabe’s before pushing him away. Much like Balthazar’s kiss, Castiel felt nothing afterwards but uncomfortable.

Dean seemed to feel the same, as a few moments later he grabbed the bottle of tequila from beside Sam and stormed out onto the balcony through the clear doors on the other side of the living room, claiming he was too hot.

“Awkward.” Gabe sing-songed.

“I- I don’t want to play anymore.” Cas said, standing up. “Sam, where is the bathroom?”

Sam pointed to the door by the balcony and Cas nodded in thanks, almost running from the room. The door lead to a long hallway, but it didn’t take him long to find the bathroom and once he did, he locked himself inside and gripped onto the sink tightly, guilt gnawing in his stomach. He didn’t even know what he felt guilty about, but it was a horrible feeling.

He could hear the group laughing in the living room.

_Are they laughing at me?_ Cas worried.

Probably not.

Cas left the bathroom but decided he wasn’t ready to go back to the living room, yet. He wasn’t sure why until he saw a second door which lead to the balcony- and he realised he wanted to see if Dean was okay. Cas stepped through the door silently, wrapping his arms around himself once he realised how cold it was.

The balcony was shaped like an L, and Cas went around the corner until he saw Dean at the far end, out of sight from the living room, leaning against the railing. He hadn’t noticed Cas, yet.

Cas hesitated, before walking over to the man with trepidation. “Dean?”

Dean’s head jerked up. “Jeez, Cas! Make some noise, would ya?” Dean growled, but there was no malice in his tone.

“I apologise, Dean. I just wanted to see if you were okay.”

“I’m fine, Cas.” There were those words again, Dean thought. He was sick of having to say that he was fine so much.

Cas fixed Dean with a look. “Right. That’s why you ran out of the room like someone had kicked your puppy.”

“I just don’t like truth or dare.” Dean frowned, his face covered with shadows.

“Why do you continue to lie, Dean? You don’t have to lie to me.”

Dean shrugged.

“What’s really the matter?” Cas pressed.

“I-uh. I was just pissed off because Gabriel and Balthazar were acting like jerks.”

“How so?” Castiel asked, narrowing his eyes. Sure, Gabe and Balthazar were annoying, but he wouldn’t go as far as to call them jerks.

“Just leave it, Cas! It’s nothing.” Dean muttered, taking a gulp from the bottle in his hand.

Cas sighed and went to stand by Dean, resting against the railing. He held out his hand for the bottle and Dean handed it to him. Cas drank a few mouthfuls before passing it back to Dean.

“So, I’m curious. Who was your favourite ‘Vancouver Kiss’?” Dean asked, using his free hand to make air quotes. “Gabe or Balthazar?”

Castiel thought for a second, even though he knew the answer straight away. “You.”

“Huh.” Dean said, trying to hide his shock.

Cas, of course, saw right through him. “Why does that surprise you, Dean?”

“I dunno. I thought you had a thing for Gabe, is all.” Dean shrugged.

“I don’t.”

“You kissed him.”

“So? Friends can kiss without it meaning anything.”

“Can they?” Dean asked, fixing his eyes on Cas’, and Cas got the feeling they weren’t talking about him and Gabe anymore.

Instead of answering, Cas stepped closer to Dean and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him down for a kiss. Dean let out a yelp of surprise before getting into it, grabbing Cas’ hips and pulling him in closer with a growl.

Cas pulled away. “See? We’re friends, and we’ve kissed hundreds of times.”

“Acting kissing doesn’t count, Cas.” Dean frowned, eyes fixed on his hands. They were shaking.

“Whatever.”

“So you’re saying, we can kiss a hundred times and it wouldn’t mean anything? Wouldn’t stop us being friends?”

“I don’t know.” Cas whispered; but he did know. He knew it wouldn’t stop them being friends; but not meaning anything? That was a whole other story.

“So if I did this,” Dean whispered in reply, lacing a hand through Cas’ hair and pulling him in for a short kiss. Cas felt it in his toes. “It wouldn’t make things awkward between us?”

“Not at all.” Cas said simply.

“Good.” Dean breathed against Cas’ lips, before pulling Cas tight against him once again, his other hand trailing down his side softly. Cas groaned and tried to move closer, deepening the kiss as he clutched Dean’s chest.

A burst of laughter from inside pulled them apart, but Dean’s arm did not move from where it was locked around Cas’ back.

“Never thought I’d ever make out with batman.” Cas joked, his eyes flicking between Dean’s lips and eyes- he didn’t know which feature was more perfect.

“Never thought Batman would end up making out with the Joker.” Dean chuckled softly, pressing a kiss to the corner of Cas’ mouth.

“Dean-” Cas began, trying to suggest they should go inside before they got suspicious, but Dean ignored him, opting to press kisses in a trail to Cas’ neck instead. He nipped lightly on the skin beneath Cas’ jaw, earning a soft whine from Cas.

“Dean. W- we should go…”

Dean bit Cas harder. “Go where?” Dean breathed against Cas, sending shivers up the younger man’s spine.

“G-go inside.”

Dean pulled back slightly, his eyebrows raised. “Is that what you really want?”

Cas thought for a moment, before shaking his head. Dean grinned wolfishly, grabbing Cas’ waist and pulling him in close once again, pressing a bruising kiss to his lips.

They didn’t go inside for another hour; and when they did return, and Cas’ lipstick was all over Dean’s face, no-one mentioned it.

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

 

 


	13. Chapter 13

 

Sam didn’t bring up the Halloween party until the next week, when Dean was giving Sam a ride from the set.

“So, you and Cas?” Sam tried to sound casual.

Dean snorted. “What about me and Cas?”

“You were wearing his lipstick.”

“So were Gabe and Balthazar.”

“You’re telling me there’s nothing going on between you and him?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying, jerk.”

“But you _did_ kiss him?”

Dean shrugged. “Whassit to you?”

“So you’re just… kissing friends?”

“I dunno, okay?”

"Kissing can't just not mean anything, Dean. Kissing always means something."

"If I high fived Cas it wouldn't be such a big deal, so who says kissing has to be a big deal?"

"Kissing and high fiving are completely different." Sam frowned.

"Are they? It's just the touching of two body parts! If friends can high five then friends can kiss without it meaning anything."

“Seems kinda weird, Dean.”

“You don’t think I know that?”

“Do y- do you want to be more than friends with him?”

“Sammy, this ain’t loose women. We’re not gonna sit here and yap about our feelings, this ain’t a chick flick.” Dean growled.

“Jeez, touchy much, jerk?” Sam muttered.

Dean didn’t answer, instead he turned the Metallica playing out of the stereo even louder, hoping to drown out his thoughts. It didn't work.

 

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

 

Cas came back to set the next week, seeing as Dmitri wasn’t in as many scenes as Jensen and Jared, he wasn’t on set as often as Cas would have liked. Dean also shared this sentiment; ever since Halloween, he’d been itching to talk to the other man, but he hadn’t got the chance because Cas wasn’t there.

It wasn’t like they missed each other, or anything.

It wasn’t until the third day that they got a chance to speak; and it only happened because Cas had woken up that morning with a bad bout of the flu.

 “Cas!” Hannah told Cas as he walked to stage 3. Ariel and Heather had fussed over him in hair and make-up, complaining that he was as white as a sheet, and he wasn’t really in the mood to act. Cas didn’t feel comfortable to ask to go home, though. He didn’t want to stop filming for the whole day because he felt sick. “This is your convention schedule for next year, along with next episode’s script,” Hannah handed him a bundle of papers, “and shooting schedule and interview sessions.”

Cas half-listened to Hannah’s rambling about scheduling  and scripts, his arms wrapped around himself as she shivered. He’d been getting hot and cold flushes all day, and he was pretty sure that people could see their own reflection in the sheen of sweat on his forehead. “Hannah, this envelope says Dean on the front.” Cas frowned, handing it back to her.

“Oh! I’m sorry. It’s just with Nicole gone, the intern Dean has isn’t very good. She keeps mixing things up.” Hannah sighed, looking for the right envelope in the stack of papers in her messenger bag.

“Good thing the girls will be back by next week then, eh Han?” Dean said, striding over to them and taking the envelope from Hannah. There was a paper coffee cup in his hand and his smile was too bright for nine am.

“Talking about the girls,” Cas began, as Hannah finally found the right schedule for Cas and handed it to him. “I thought you were going with them?”

“What, go to Seattle with Claire and Nicole for a week? You may as well just sellotape me to the back of a motorbike!” Hannah huffed, closing her bag and throwing it over her shoulder once again.

Cas cocked his head, confused.

“She means she’d be a third wheel, Cas.” Dean said.

“Oh.” Cas nodded. “Still, it could have been fun, Hannah.”

“Fun? Maybe. But you know what will be more fun? Winning the bet I have against Ariel that those two dumbos will have taken their heads out of their asses and gotten together.” Hannah smiled. “Anyway, I have to go now, unless you need anything else, Cas?”

“No, I’m okay, Hannah.” Cas lied, and she smiled gratefully. “But it would help if you took these schedules to my trailer, though. I can’t really do much with these on set.”

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t think. I’ll take them now.” Hannah told him, grabbing the papers before waving and darting away.

“So… conventions, eh? S’gonna be weird being on stage at one of those for you, ain’t it?” Dean grinned, as they made their way to set.

“I guess so.” Cas shrugged. “I hope I won’t have to do a panel by myself.”

“Cons aren’t so bad, and there’s way less awkward silences than you imagine there’s gonna be.” Dean chuckled.

“I suppose so-” Before Cas could finish, he was hit with a violent round of shivers, followed by a coughing fit.

“Wow, Cas, are you okay?” Dean asked worriedly, gripping Cas’ bicep to halt their walking.

Cas pushed him away lightly. “I’m fine, Dean.” He said dismissively

“No, you’re not.”

“It’s just a cold, Dean.”

Dean gave Cas a I-know-you’re-lying-dumbass look, but didn’t press any further. They began to walk to set again in silence. They were filming an episode that would be primarily from Dmitri’s point of view, meaning they would see more of the angels. Cas would be in every scene; which is why he couldn’t tell anyone he was sick.

“So, I bet Nic and Claire are having fun in Seattle.” Dean said once they’d arrived; waiting for the director to tell them where to go.

“Yes. I presume so.” Cas sniffed. “The photographs Claire has been sending me seem like it.”

“So, you want to get in on a little action?” Dean grinned, and Cas almost had a heart attack.

“W-what?”

“Shit, no… I meant, like- betting action. Like Hannah said? Betting that Claire and Nicole will get their heads out of their asses and get together.” Dean said awkwardly. _But other kind of action would definitely not be turned down_ , Dean thought to himself.

“Oh, yes. What do you think?”

“They’ll definitely get together.” Dean said with confidence. “Those two were meant to be, I’m tellin’ you.”

Castiel frowned.

“D’you not think so, Cas?” Dean asked.

“I’m not sure. Claire wasn’t even interested in girls before Nicole.”

“Just because she didn’t tell anyone doesn’t mean it wasn’t always there, Cas.” Dean said, his eyes sharp and unrelenting, clashing against Castiel’s. “Or maybe she didn’t realise it until she met the right person.”

 _“Dean, Castiel, we need you on set!”_ Someone called out.

The morning went by without much going wrong except for a broken gun prop and one of Gabriel’s stray whoopee cushions appearing on Sam’s chair. Cas, on the other hand, was a different story. He was getting sicker by the second; he felt like he could faint at any given moment, though he tried his best to hide it.

Dean, of course, saw right through his crap.

“Dmitri, are you telling me that Meg- she’s a witch?” Dean frowned. As he looked at Cas he noticed that the smaller man’s eyes were clouded and pupils enlarged and darting, as if he was dizzy. Dean was getting worried.

“Y-yes, that’s ex-exactly what I’m saying, Jensen.” Cas replied; the stammering wasn’t part of the script.

“ _Cut! Again, guys_.” The director called, just as Cas started coughing once again.

Dean clenched his teeth. He didn’t like to see Cas like that, and he especially didn’t like the fact that the director knew Cas was sick and didn’t do anything.

“ _Action!”_

“Dmitri, are you telling me-” Dean cut himself off with a sigh as Cas jerked forwards, almost as if he’d fallen asleep only to wake up straight away. “Okay, stop! Cut, whatever.” Dean shouted.

“Dean?” Cas asked, his dopey eyes blinking up at Dean with confusion.

“Dean, what is going on?” The director shouted.

“We’re not doing this any longer, okay? Cas is fuckin’ sick, and I’m not lettin’ him overwork himself because you want to get the shooting done today.” Dean growled angrily, slipping an arm around Cas’ middle to help him keep upright.

The director sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Fine, fine.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Dean, take your guy home for god’s sake, and don’t come back today, you hear?” He turned to his assistant. “Get Sam, Gabriel and Bela in here, we’ll do their scenes today.”

“C’mon, Cas.” Dean said after giving a thankful nod to the director.

“Where are we going?”

“Dude, you are so out of it.” Dean smiled affectionately at the man tucked under his arm, before turning to the intern hovering behind his shoulder. “Jenny, could you take Cas to take his make-up off and get changed, and meet me at my car in twenty minutes, okay?”

Jenny nodded, slipping Cas’ arm around her shoulders. “C’mon, buddy.” She said, before leading him away.

Dean rushed to get Jensen’s clothes off and into his plaid shirt and leather jacket combo, and went to stand by Baby to wait for Cas, but not before stopping at Cas’ trailer to pick up his schedules. 

When Cas came back, he was slightly more lucid.

“Hello.” Cas said as Dean opened the passenger side door for him and he slid in. Once Dean had gotten into his side, he leant over the seat and pressed a hand to Cas’ forehead.

“Dude, you could fry a burger on your forehead.”

Cas sighed, sliding lower in his seat until he could rest his head against the leather. “It seems that I’m sick, Dean.” He admitted in a small voice.

Dean chuckled as he started the car and began to drive. “Are you gonna be okay at your place without Claire there?” Dean suddenly frowned.

Cas hesitated. “I- Yes, I’m sure.” 

Dean raised his eyebrows. “Do you have medicine at your place, Cas? Soup, maybe? Tea?”

Dean was definitely not trying to get Cas to come back to his place so Dean could look after him. He was obviously just trying to get his friend healthy again.

“No.” Cas sighed. “Is that customary when someone has the flu?”

“Have you not had the flu before, Cas?”

Cas shook his head.

“Okay, that settles it, you’re staying at my place, Cas.”

“Dean I- I’ll be okay, I don’t want to impose-”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You know you’re not imposing, you goof.” Dean grinned, but when he turned his head to look at Cas, he realised the other man was asleep.

Dean just shook his head with an affectionate sigh and drove them home.

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

 

Dean placed Cas on the couch when they got to Dean’s house, and the man didn’t even stir. Dean decided to sit next to him and watch some TV to wait for him to wake up. His plan was disrupted, however; by the sound of his phone chiming.

**> From Sam**

**_You may want to check Hollywood gossip._ **

Dean didn’t even bother replying, and instead pulled out his laptop and typed ‘hollywood gossip dean winchester’ into the search bar.

The results almost made him drop his laptop.

 ** _Secret affair of Dean and Castiel?_** the headline read.

Along with the primary web page, there was a whole gallery of pictures of him and Cas; some on set, some at the mall, some in the grocery store; and some even from Sam’s Halloween party.

There was someone out of their friend group selling pictures to the tabloids, Dean realised with wide eyes. There was a picture of him and Cas looking very cosy on Sam’s balcony; taken from the inside.

Dean decided to check out a few more websites, and he found out that he and Cas had quite the following, or rather, Dean _slash_ Cas. Seventeen stated their ‘ship name’ was Destiel.

Dean felt like he was going to puke.

It wasn’t at the fact they were implying he was with Cas; it was the fact it was spreading like wildfire and no one even questioned the fact they were both guys. Did everyone really just believe Dean was into dudes just like that?

His phone chimed again.

**> From Carmen**

**_baby, are we still meeting for dinner tonight? xxxx_ **

Dean almost groaned in frustration as he typed a quick reply.

**To Carmen >**

**_Can’t. With Cas._ **

**> From Carmen**

**_You’re always with Cas! I’ve seen the destiel shit online, Dean. Are you trying to embarrass me?_ **

**To Carmen >**

**_Cas is my friend, Carmen, and u know im not trying to do anything. we’re not even dating so it’s not really your place to say._ **

Carmen didn’t reply, and Dean was thankful for that. He’d let the thing with Carmen go on for too long; even though it wasn’t much of a thing to begin with. They met up maybe once a week, but  Dean knew he didn’t harbour any kind of romantic attraction to her. It was almost impossible to have a conversation with Carmen, if it wasn’t about clothes or money then she simply didn’t care.

The only reason he was even talking to her was because Rufus wanted him to, and now with the new rumours about him and Cas, Rufus would probably force him to make a sex tape with her or something; to try and prove his heterosexuality.

Not that it even existed.

Dean glanced at Cas, who was snoring softly on the couch next to him; his mouth parted slightly.

 _He looks like an angel,_ Dean thought. _Wait, where the hell did that come from?_

Dean’s eyes flicked back to the laptop screen.

 ** _Does Dean Winchester have a crush on Castiel Novak?_** Someone on a website named tumblr had written. It was followed by a bunch of pictures of Dean looking at Cas.

Dean had to admit it looked like something out of a romcom.

But wait- did that mean he had a crush on Cas?

Sure, he liked kissing Cas, but was that because Dean liked kissing, or Cas?

And yeah, the sight of Cas kissing Gabriel and Balthazar made Dean feel like he’d eaten a bowl of knives, but was that jealousy, or protectiveness?

And maybe, just maybe, Dean liked spending time with Cas over anyone else; he liked to watch movies with him, and do stupid things with him and he liked it when Cas used Dean as a pillow when he was tired, but was that because Dean had a crush? Or was it just because they were best friends?

Dean’s head hurt.

“Dean?” Cas mumbled suddenly, his doe eyes blinking up at Dean.

“Nice of you to wake up, sleeping beauty.” Dean grinned, ruffling his hair. Cas’ eyes fluttered as Dean’s fingers tugged lightly on his hair.

“How did I get here?”

“I- uh, I carried you.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Cas smiled, but it soon turned into a frown. “If I’m going to stay here I need to go and get a few things from my house.”

“Like what?”

“Clothing, and my cell phone-“

“Your cell phone?”

“I don’t like taking it to work, I don’t trust Gabriel.” Cas explained with a yawn.

“Oh, okay. What else?”

“Uh, my script maybe? I don’t want to go back to work and disrupt more of the filming because I don’t know my lines. And, I need my, uh…” Cas blushed lightly. “Blanket.” He said the last word so quietly that Dean had to strain to hear him.

“I knew you couldn’t live without that thing.” Dean grinned, but the teasing and calling him a ‘baby’ that Cas was expecting didn’t come. Instead, Dean stood up and placed his laptop on the coffee table.

“So, phone, script, clothes and thing for you to cuddle?”

Cas nodded as he stood up, but Dean shook his head and pushed him back down lightly. “You’re not comin’, Cas. You stay here and rest, okay?”

“But, Dean-” Cas tried to protest, but Dean wouldn’t have it.

“Nope. Now gimme your keys.” Cas did so and Dean responded with a grin.

“If I come back and you’re not resting on this couch, I’m gonna be mad.” Dean warned with a wink, earning an eye roll from Cas.

“Get out you assbutt.”

When Dean returned, Cas was indeed curled up on the couch, half-watching the TV with dopey eyes. His face brightened as he spotted Dean walking in.

“Hello.” Cas grinned.

Dean mock-frowned and stopped a few feet away from the couch. “Are you happy to see me, or are you happy that I’ve got your blanket?”

“How does both sound?”

“Like ass-kissing but I’ll take it.” Dean replied with a lopsided grin. Dean handed Cas the bagful of things he’d gotten from Cas’ place, his tan coloured blanket at the top. Cas pulled the blanket out with a small smile and pulled it to his chest happily.

“I’m startin’ to feel like a third wheel here, Cas.” Dean said as he sat on the couch beside Cas once again. “I knew you looked like one of those cuddly types.” He teased.

Cas stuck out his tongue. “It’s because I’m sick, Dean.”

“Sure it is. I’m gonna pretend to believe you because I’m a good friend.”

“Shut up. Can we watch a movie?” Cas asked hopefully.

“Yeah, anything in particular?”

“Gabriel said that I should watch a movie named Brokeback Mountain. Is that any good?”

Dean almost choked.

“Uh, Cas? I think Gabriel was messin’ with ya.”

Cas frowned. “Is that not a real movie or something?”

“It’s about gay shepherds who have sex in a tent.” Dean said, his eyes fixed on Castiel’s widening ones.

“Oh, I, uh. I probably shouldn’t have listened to Gabriel, then.” Cas replied with an amused look on his face.

“We could watch it if you want.” Dean said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You have it?”

Dean paused, trying to think of a way to make it sound like he didn’t have the Brokeback Mountain DVD because he liked the movie. Which he totally didn’t, okay? He was just a- _big fan_ of Jake Gyllenhaal.

“Um, it’s Sam’s?” Dean blurted out.

Cas narrowed his eyes at Dean, not believing him one bit.

“Okay, okay.” Dean sighed. “It’s mine, I like to watch it sometimes, alright?”

“It’s no more embarrassing than Porky’s two.” Cas smirked.

“Porky’s two is a quality movie, Cas!” Dean protested, throwing a cushion at him.

“Sure it is, Dean.” Cas grinned, before frowning again. “What time is it?”

“Five.” Dean replied after glancing at his watch. “Are you hungry?” He asked once he realised they hadn’t eaten all day.

Cas nodded.

“I’ll make you some soup or something?”

“No, no. I could make it myself-”

“Cas.” Dean said sternly. “Let me take care of you.”

Cas sighed in defeat and stood up, clutching his blanket. “Fine, but I’m coming with you.”

Dean stood up and led them to the kitchen. “What, are you scared I’ll poison it or something?”

“As long as you don’t put grasshoppers in it, I don’t care what you put in it.” Cas smiled, before hopping up onto the counter by the stove and placing the blanket by his side.

Dean started preparing the soup and Cas decided to tell him a story to fill the time. It was about the time he and Anna had decided to open a lemonade stand down the street to their house, and some guy and stolen the box of money they had on the table. Anna had been furious, and had chased the guy down the street and jumped on his back. It turned out to be Lucifer playing a prank on them.

It was one of the few memories Castiel had of Lucifer before he was kicked out.

“So where’s Anna now, then?” Dean asked, putting the saucepan on the ring of blue flames on the stove.

Cas fidgeted awkwardly. “She’s dead.”

“Oh, shit, I’m sorry, Cas.” Dean said, moving closer to Cas, unsure of whether to hug him or not.

“It was a long time ago.” Cas shrugged, trying to blink away the tears that were slowly forming in his eyes. Dean placed a hand on Cas’ knee, his thumb tracing patterns into his jeans.

“Doesn’t mean it hurts any less.” Dean replied.

“You say that like you know the feeling.”

“I do, my parents are dead, remember?”

“So are mine.” Cas said, a tear trickling down beneath his eyelashes.

“Okay, orphan Annie, don’t get tears in the soup.” Dean chuckled, using his other hand to rub the tear from Cas’ cheek.

“Who’s Annie?” Cas frowned.

“One day you’re going to understand one of my references, Cas.” Dean grinned. “One day.”

“Maybe.” Cas replied. “I’ll be right back.” He said, before disappearing in the direction of the bathroom. Dean decided to take the moment to go to the living room and pick out a movie for them to watch. His eyes scanned the racks of DVD’s, trying to decide which Cas would like the best.

A few minutes later, Cas appeared behind him. “What are you doing?”

“Pickin’ a movie.” Dean said, unable to decide.

“What’s this?” Cas asked, pulling out a random DVD. “Titanic. I’ve heard Balthazar talk about this movie.”

“No way in hell we’re watching that.” Dean scoffed. It wasn’t his, so Sam had probably left it behind when he moved out.

“Oh. How about this?” Cas said, holding up Bee Movie. “I like bees.”

“You wanna watch this?”

Cas nodded with a small smile.

“Okay, then. It-” Dean paused, sniffing the air. “Do you smell something?”

Cas frowned, cocking his head to the side. “Smell what?”

“I dunno, something weird. You probably can’t smell it because you’re sick.”

“What does it smell like?”

“Like-” Dean sniffed the air again. “Like something _burning!”_ Dean cried, jumping up and rushing to the kitchen with Cas on his heels. He froze when he got to the kitchen, unable to do anything.

Something was on fire next to the stove.

“Dean!” Cas shouted, but Dean was still frozen, his mind full of flashbacks from one specific night when he was four years old.

Cas, realising Dean wasn’t moving, rushed to the fire and tried to put it out. Dean suddenly snapped out of his reverie and ran over there, and realised what was on fire. It was Cas’ blanket.

Dean grabbed it and threw it onto the tile floor, stomping the fire out. Once it was out, Dean bent down and picked up the blanket with pinched fingers.

“Cas-” Dean breathed. “I am so, so sorry.”

Cas was looking at the blanket with wide eyes, or rather, the charred remains of the blanket.

“Cas?” Dean asked, realising that the smaller man was shaking. Dean put the blanket on the counter and put off the gas burner, before grabbing Cas’ shoulders. “Cas, are you okay?”

Cas shook his head quickly, and Dean decided they needed to get out of the smoky kitchen and led Cas back to the living room. They sat on the couch, ignoring the fact that Dean’s right side and Cas’ left were pressed tightly together.

“Cas-” Dean began, ready to apologise again, but Cas shook his head.

“It’s okay, Dean.”

“But it was important to you! This is all my fault-”

“Dean, there’s nothing we can do about it now, is there? Stop beating yourself up about it.”

“I- I’ll get you a new one.” Dean promised, but Cas shook his head once again.

“It was more the sentimental value than anything, Dean. I don’t want another one.”

“Tell me about it.”

“It was Anna’s.” Cas began, and Dean had to force himself not to punch himself in the face. _Burn his dead sister’s blanket, Dean! Way to go!_ “She gave it to me when we were younger and I was scared. Michael and Lucifer were having an argument.”

“Fuck, Cas…” Dean was unsure of what to say. The guilt was almost eating him alive.

“Shh, Dean. Now put on the movie, okay?”

“But, now you have nothing to cuddle. Do you want to borrow a blanket or something?” Dean asked as he peeled away from Cas and reached for the DVD remote, pressing play.

“It’s fine, Claire has an abundance of blankets and although they don’t really have a lot of sentimental value like mine did I’m sure they will be comforting…” Cas said.

Suddenly, a light clicked on in Dean’s brain as he settled back onto the couch.

“C’mere, Cas.” Dean said, looping an arm around Cas’ waist and pulling him closer.

“Dean?” Cas asked, confused, but he still let Dean pull him into his chest.

“I’ll be your new blanket, okay? Until you get a new one.” Dean smiled, trying to tilt his head so Cas wouldn’t see his blushing cheeks. He expected Cas to push him away and start shouting any moment, but it never came.

“Thank you, Dean.” Cas grinned, resting his head on Dean’s chest. “But you may get sick.”

Dean smiled as he watched Cas slide an arm around his stomach. “Sick, schmick.”

They watched the rest of the movie in silence, the smell of Cas’ coconut shampoo tickling Dean’s nose.

Dean remembered the tumblr post he’d read earlier.

**_Does Dean Winchester have a crush on Castiel Novak?_ **

Yes; yes he does, Dean realised.

But unlike Dean had imagined, the realisation didn’t come with crippling panic or disappointment. It came with a warm sensation in his chest that Dean decided he couldn’t get enough of.

Or maybe that was just the weight of Cas’s head on his chest that made it feel like that; but Dean liked it either way.

★               ★                ★

 


	14. Chapter 14

The coffee shop Castiel and Gabriel were in was Christmassy, to say the least. There was a big Christmas tree in the corner, blinking lights strewn across the walls and a giant Santa Claus painted on the window. The owner was dedicated, apparently.

“So, Cassie.” Gabriel drawled as he stirred his peppermint hot chocolate, his eyes teasing. “What’s the haps on you and Dean these days?”

Castiel rolled his eyes, looking down into his black coffee with a snort. The truth was that there was nothing much happening between him and Dean at all, really. He’d been offish with Cas ever since Cas had been sick a few weeks ago, and now that they’d stopped shooting for Christmas break, they barely even saw each other.

“You know there’s nothing going on, Gabriel.” Cas sighed, pulling the sleeves of his sweater over his hands.

“Seriously?” Gabriel groaned. “It’s been months. I thought you’d be fucking ages ago!”

Cas frowned, mulling over Gabe’s words. If it was anyone else, Castiel would have been fucking him ages ago. But Dean? Dean was different.  Everything was different with Dean. Before Cas had begun to work on Not Natural, he hadn’t even had any friends that he didn’t have sex with. Sure, that made him sound like a man whore, but he only had three friends to begin with. He’d never had a crush, or been on a date; he wasn’t even sure he knew what it was like to be romantically attracted someone.

Would he even know if he had a crush on someone?

Hypothetically, of course.

Gabriel flicked Cas on the forehead, breaking him from his thoughts. “Cassie, are you in there?”

“Sorry, Gabe.” Cas muttered, drinking his coffee.

“Why are you being all Mopey Dick today? Is it Dean?” Gabriel asked, before breaking into laughter. “Mopey dick! Did you see what I did there? I’m a literary _genius.”_

“Can we not talk about Dean?” Cas asked, eyes drifting to the street outside the window. There was a man, leaning against the window, that reminded him of Dean. He was wearing a leather jacket, almost the same as Dean’s, but Cas knew it wasn’t him.

“Did he do something, angel face? Do I have to punch some dicks?”

“Please don’t punch Dean’s dick.” Cas cringed.

“Because you wanna use it first, eh?” Gabriel winked, but frowned quickly afterwards. “Stop changing the subject, true blue. Did he hurt you, or something?”

 _Not on purpose,_ Cas thought.

It wasn’t like Cas hadn’t tried to talk to Dean. But every time Cas suggested they meet up outside of work, Dean always replied with an excuse or he said he was out with Carmen.

“Dean hasn’t hurt me.” Castiel said.

“You haven’t been hanging out much, have you.” It wasn’t a question; it was a statement. Before the cas-having-the-flu-and-dean-being-nurse debacle, they’d hung out several times a week, and talked on twitter all the time. Now? There was nothing.

“Dean hasn’t really spoken to me since I stayed at his house.” Castiel confided.

“When you were sick?”

Cas nodded.

“Tell me what happened when you were there.”

“Well, the first night, we watched movies. The second day, Dean went to work and I stayed at Dean’s, then I stayed there for one more night and Claire came back the day after.” Cas told him, intentionally leaving the blanket burning and using Dean as a human comforter part out.

“There’s something you’re not telling me.” Gabriel said simply, cocking his head like Castiel did so often.

“Dean was being very… affectionate.” Castiel said, picking his words carefully.

“Best friend affectionate or…?”

Castiel shook his head, averting his eyes.

“So, he was being like a boyfriend?”

“I- I guess you could say that.” Castiel replied.

Gabriel broke out into a big grin. “There you go! God, you are panicking for no reason.”

“What are you talking about?”

“My dear Cassie, Dean is-” Gabriel paused for dramatic effect. “Having a _gay panic._ A text book gay panic, to be in fact.”

Cas paused. “W-wha- How do you know?”

“It’s obvious, Casatron. When a guy is being all lovey dovey one second, and then boom! Radio silence and awkwardness? He’s realised his feelings for you and is freaking out. I would bet my whole candy stash on it.”

“What feelings, though? You talk like he _has_ something to realise. “

“Are you really asking me if I think Dean has a crush on you? God, I feel so grade school.” Gabriel sighed. “You should ask Claire to show you the destiel tumblr tag at some point.”

“Deestiel? What’s that?”

“A portmanteau, of Dean and Castiel. God, you’re oblivious, aren’t you?”

Castiel shifted awkwardly in his seat. “Why- why would we have a portmanteau?”

“Because the fans ship you and Dean together. They want you in a relationship.”

“Why?”

“Because they see how perfect you’d be for each other, dumbass.” Gabriel groaned in frustration. “Seriously. Get Claire to show you tumblr, and then go over to Dean’s house. Invite him to Disneyland.”

“ _Disneyland?_ What are you talking about, Gabriel?”

“You, me, Claire and Nicole are going to Disneyland for Christmas until December 31st so we can be back in Vancouver for New Years. Did they not tell you?”

“No.” Cas grumbled.

“But you’ll come?”

“I- n-  fine. I can’t spend Christmas without Claire, anyway.”

“See! Now you need to invite Dean.”

“Why would I do that?” Cas frowned, blushing slightly. He sipped from his coffee to try and cover it up.

“ _Because,_ Cassie, for two reasons.” Gabriel began, leaning on his elbows thoughtfully. “Reason one: you want him to come as badly as you need to come yourself. And I’m not talking about Disney with that second part.” Gabriel winked as Castiel flushed. “And second reason is that Dean’s going to be alone for Christmas if you don’t invite him.”

“Doesn’t he usually spend Christmas with Sam?”

“Mhhmm.” Gabriel hummed around a marshmallow in his mouth. “But this year, Sam and Bela are going to Aspen.”

 _“Aspen_?”Castiel asked with raised eyebrows. “Poor Dean.” He mused. He knew how hard it was for him to have his brother move out, but going to Aspen for Christmas without Dean?  It was probably tearing him apart inside.

“Exactly, which is why you need to invite him to Disneyland!” Gabriel exclaimed excitedly.

“I still don’t know why it’s necessary that we go to Disneyland.” Castiel frowned. “Wouldn’t it be easier to stay here?”

“One word, Cassie _: Rollercoasters_! That’s why!”

“You are a child.” Castiel groaned, but there was a smile on his face.

Gabriel winked saucily. “You love me anyway, sweetcheeks.”  

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When Cas got home that evening, it was to the sight of Nicole and Claire sitting on the couch so tangled together that Cas wasn’t sure who’s limbs were whose. One of them was wearing grey jeans, though, he knew that much.

Castiel flopped down on the armchair adjacent to the couch with a sigh. “What is dee-astiel?”

“You mean destiel?” Claire snorted, sharing a look with Nicole.

“Tomato, tomato.” Cas grumbled, kicking his legs up onto the coffee table. The girls on the couch looked amused at his behaviour, but Castiel stayed oblivious. “Do you know what it is?”

“Yours and Dean’s names stuck together?” Nicole offered.

Cas groaned at her answer, pulling his sweater over his eyes. “So it’s not just something Gabe made up?”

“Nope.” Claire and Nicole giggled. “Did you not know about it before today?”

Cas shook his head. “Gabriel told me to ask you to show me the tumblr tag.”

Claire and Nicole shared another pointed look. “Uh, Cassie, I don’t think you want to do that.” Claire said.

“Why not?” Cas asked with wide eyes. “Is it that bad?”

“Define bad?” Nicole replied.

“Oh God.” Cas groaned.

Claire elbowed Nicole in the ribs, peeling away from her slightly. “Ignore her, Cas.” Claire ordered. “She’s being silly, it’s not _that_ bad. It will probably shock you, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it might make your feelings for Dean glaringly obvious and hard to deny.” Nicole smirked.

“Nic!” Claire groaned, before turning back to Cas. “There’s a lot of art and fan fiction, Cas. Along with pictures of you and Dean looking at each other and people trying to prove you’re in love with each other.”

“But… why? Why me not me and Gabriel? Or me and Sam?” Castiel frowned.

“Because people see something between you and Dean, dumbass.” Claire rolled her eyes.

“Do you?” Castiel asked after a moment of hesitation.

Claire looked awkward. “Do I what? See something between you and Dean?”

Cas nodded.

“I’m not blind, Cassie. I saw it the moment you met the guy.” Claire told him honestly.

Before Cas could answer, Nicole interrupted. “Do you want to see the tumblr tag, or are you too wussy?” She asked, pulling out Claire’s laptop from beside the couch and turning it on.

“I- yes. I’d like to see it.” Cas said determinedly.

Nicole smirked and handed him the laptop, his eyes immediately drawn to the colourful pictures on screen.

His mouth was suddenly dried out when he realised what the first picture was.

Someone had drawn him and Dean, sans clothes, in a bath tub.

The next drawing was of them kissing in batman and joker costumes, which made Cas’ stomach do a weird flip thing.

Next there was a text post.

**_‘Why don’t Castiel and Dean just make their relationship public? We all know about it anyway.’_ **

The next was even worse:

“Oh my God.” Cas choked out as he scrolled through a few more posts. He felt like he needed to go to Church after some of the things he’d read.

He was never going to look at bagels the same ever again.

“I should show you the A03 tag sometime.” Claire snorted.

“Do you think Dean knows about all this?”

Nicole shifted awkwardly in her seat, before nodding. “He talked to me about it.” She sighed. “He didn’t say much, though. Just that he was uh, surprised.”

“Surprised, right.” Cas scoffed. “That’s why he’s avoiding me like I have the plague.”

“He’ll come around.” Claire offered, and both Cas and Nicole gave her incredulous looks.

“It’s Dean we’re talking about here, Claire Bear. He’s stubborn as a mule and knowing him, he’s probably decided he’s ruined things between him and Cas and is blaming himself for everything right about now, likely with a bottle of whiskey and or tequila.” Nicole said, and Cas had to agree. Nicole was one of the few people that knew Dean better than anyone, and Cas knew she was right.

“How do I fix it?” Cas groaned, closing the laptop and handing it back to Claire. “Gabe said I should speak to him.”

Claire and Nicole looked alarmed. “No way, Cassie!” Claire almost shouted.

“That will just make him freak out even more.” Nicole added, shaking her head. “We need a proper plan for this.”

“What do you suggest?” Claire asked.

“I’ll talk to him. I’ll invite him to Disney Land, but I won’t say Cas is going, and once we get there he’ll be forced to get over himself and sort things out with Cas!” Nicole grinned, proud of her idea.

“I- I’m not sure. Isn’t that like tricking him?” Cas frowned. “I don’t want to ruin his Christmas!”

“Trust me, you, of all people, could not ruin his Christmas.” Nicole snorted.

“How do we even know Dean will want to go?” Claire asked. “Isn’t he afraid of heights?”

“No, just flying.” Nicole replied, before gasping. “I have the best idea! What if I invite Dean on a Christmas road trip, we drive down to Disney, I subtly tell him he needs to make up with Cas and then we accidentally bump into you guys? Then, I get a plane back to Vancouver with you, but Cas drives back with Dean!”

Claire’s eyes widened with excitement. “Nicole, you’re a genius!” She squealed. “What do you think, Cas?”

“I think,” Cas grinned, “That Nicole needs to go see Dean right now and invite him to fucking Disney Land.”

 

 

 

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On December Twenty-fourth, Dean and Nicole found themselves piled into the impala, on the way to Disney Land. Dean’s fingers were tapping along with the music on the steering wheel, and Nicole was head banging next to him. They were only a couple hours away, by now, and they were itching to arrive. Nicole hadn’t brought up Cas, yet; she was waiting on the perfect moment to do it.

The opportunity for the perfect moment came when Dean decided they needed to stop at a diner to have a ‘nice, greasy cheeseburger kinda lunch’, and that’s where they found themselves twenty minutes later. They both had a cheeseburger with all the trimmings and a chocolate milkshake on the table in front of them, and Dean was calm and happy filling his stomach with greasy food.

Nicole decided this was her time to shine.

“So, Dean.” She began. “When was the last time you spoke to Cas?”

Dean’s eyes grew darker as he shrugged. “Few weeks ago, maybe.”

“I thought you were real close? Best friends, even! Why the cold spot?” Nicole asked innocently, blinking her chocolaty eyes at Dean innocently.

“No reason.” Dean frowned, not convincing either of them.

Nicole rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her milkshake. “Winchester, you know I can tell when people are lying, so spill.”

“Why don’t you spill about Claire? Works both ways, you know.” Dean said with a cocked eyebrow, but his tough exterior was ruined by the mouthful of cheeseburger he was chewing.

“Me and Claire are very good, we have wild, passionate, lesbian sex every night, using big vibrators and there was that one time Cas joined in-”

Dean choked on the burger he had in his mouth. “Not funny, Nicole.”

“Fine, we’ve only kissed, but stop diverting, jesus! Is it because of the destiel shit?”

Dean didn’t reply, instead biting into his burger harshly.

“Scared people will think big, macho celebrity Dean Winchester is gay? Well news flash, Dean! It doesn’t matter if you’re having a fucking gay panic, what you’re doing to Cas is horrible.” Nicole fumed, her eyes alight with anger.

“What are you talking about?” Dean demanded, throwing down his burger.

“Look, I don’t know what happened a few weeks ago that pushed you into the abyss of self-hatred and gay panic, but you need to get the hell out of it. You just stopped talking to Cas, for no reason!”

“Wow, I guess I disappointed another one of the people I love. Didn’t see that coming.” Dean grumbled.

Nicole’s eyes widened. “You love him?”

Dean looked confused for a moment, until he realised what he’d said. “No! I mean, I- Yes- no! Ugh. That’s not fair, Nic.”

“No, what’s not fair is being a dick to your best friend and not even having the courtesy of telling him _why_.” Nicole said simply, crossing her arms over her chest.

Dean was silent for a few moments, mulling over Nicole’s words. “Do- do you think he’s really bothered by it?”

“Bothered? Dean, if Claire just stopped talking to me out of the blue and refused to answer my calls or texts, I would be fuming! Hurt! Angry as fucking hell! I’d imagine Cas feels the same way.”

“It’s different for you and Claire.”

“Is it? How?” Nicole asked with raised eyebrows.

“Because you- you have a crush on her. You’ve kissed her, you- you’re basically dating, you spend so much time together!” Dean exclaimed.

Nicole didn’t reply, instead keeping her eyebrows raised in the same position, waiting for Dean to realise what he was saying, but Dean didn’t catch on.

“Dean.” Nicole sighed. “Think about what you’ve just said and then tell me what of that doesn’t apply to you and Cas.”

“I- we. I! Uhh.” Dean tried, before wincing. “Shit, I fucked up.”

“You think?” Nicole said, biting a french fry passive aggressively.

“How do I fix this, Nic?” Dean groaned, resting his head on his hands.

“Grovel and beg for forgiveness, and maybe a few gifts wouldn’t hurt.” Nicole winked.

“Do you think he’ll forgive me?” Dean mumbled, raising his hopeful eyes to meet Nicole’s.

Nicole rolled her eyes affectionately, before throwing a French fry at Dean’s head. “God, you’re sadder than a 12 year old going through their emo phase.”

“Is that a yes?”

“God, my life is starting to feel like an episode of sex and the city.” Nicole grumbled to herself, before patting Dean’s arm. “Of course he’ll fucking forgive you, dickweed.”

“Hey, sex and the city isn’t that bad, imagine the great shoes we’d have!” Dean said, raising his head from his hands, his bad mood suddenly dissipated.

Nicole snorted. “Cool it, Gok Wan.”

“Who the hell is Gok Wan?”

 “Don’t you worry your pretty little head.” Nicole cooed, ruffling his hair with her hand. “Now, let’s go over what you’re going to say to Cas.”

“As if I’m fuckin’ tellin’ you!” Dean laughed, batting her hands away. “It’s not like I’ll see him until after Disney Land, anyway.”

Nicole grinned awkwardly. “About that…”

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry about the delay!! christmas was a busy season for me, and then I kinda hit a writer's block for this chapter, but all is well now!! updating should return to normal from now on:-)
> 
> thank you for sticking by this fic, i love you all! i know lots of people are reluctant to read WIP's because you never know if they'll be finished etc, but I promise this fic will not go abandoned.
> 
> again, sorry for the gap in updating!!

“I think there’s a flaw in the plan, Gabe.” Claire whispered, once Castiel had gone to the bathroom of the plane.

“We didn’t bring enough lube?” Gabriel replied, with a horrified look on his face. Claire sighed, but there was an affectionate smile on her face.

“You know the saying, we can bring a horse to water but we can’t make it drink.” Claire frowned. Gabriel nodded in understanding, fidgeting with the candy bar in his hand.

“So you’re saying, we can force Dean and Cas to spend time together but we can’t make them do anything else? Like get over themselves and fuck each other into next year?”  Gabriel mused. “I see the problem.”

“So?” Claire asked with raised eyebrows. “What do we do?”

“I say we lock them up in a room together and leave them there until they sort their shit out.” Gabriel offered. “Classic, yet fool-proof.”

“Where are we gonna lock them up, though? I mean, it’s not like they have dungeons in Disneyland.”

Gabriel leaned closer to Claire. “I have a friend.” He whispered. “If I ask him nicely, he’ll let us borrow one of the rides.”

“Borrow one of the rides?”

“We make them go on the ride, and the ride gets ‘stuck’.” Gabriel said, using air quotes. “They’re forced to stay there and sort out their shit!”

“That- that could work.” Claire nodded.

Gabriel smirked. “Oh, it will, kiddo.”

  
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“This is the worst movie I’ve ever seen.” Cas grumbled, as he shifted on the bed trying to get more comfortable, which wasn’t an easy task when wedged on a single bed between Gabriel and Claire.

“Hey! This is a great movie.” Gabriel protested. “And I acted beautifully in it, if I do say so myself.”

“Gabe, no movie called Jellyfishnado Apocalypse is great. Actually, any movie that has a title mixed with tornado is probably horrible.” Claire told him, as she watched a jellyfish on screen fly into someone’s face.

“Well if every tornado movie is horrible, then explain Sharknado.” Gabriel smirked, thinking he’d won.

“Sharknado is the worst of them all!” Claire exclaimed, throwing a red vine at Gabriel’s head, who caught it in his mouth with alarmingly fast reflexes.

“You know, when you said we were spending Christmas in Disney Land, I didn’t expect us to end up watching shit movies in bed for hours.” Castiel said, ducking out of the way as Gabriel threw a lollypop at Claire.

“Relax, Cassie. We’ll find some rollercoasters for you once the rest of our crew shows up.” Gabriel promised with a wink, making Castiel cringe internally. He’d forgotten that Nicole and Dean would be showing up soon.

“Nicole told me they’d be here at five, and it’s half past five now, so really they should be here any minute.” Claire said, glancing at her watch.

Gabriel shot Claire a pointed look. “I know the perfect ride we can go on first.”

Claire seemed to understand what Gabriel was getting at, as she had a barely hidden smirk on her face as she replied. “You’ll sit by me, right, Gabe? Seeing as Nicole won’t go on most of the rides.”

“No fair! I’m not going to sit by myself on the rides.” Cas protested, sitting up in the bed.

 Gabriel raised his eyebrows with a leer. “You’ll have Dean.”

“Right.” Cas huffed. “The same Dean that hasn’t spoken to me in weeks?”

“It’ll be fine, Cassie!” Gabriel assured.

Cas grumbled to himself but didn’t bother answering, knowing he’d only get Gabriel whining and arguing in return, and possibly throwing candy.

Gabriel, however, had a different idea.

“Cassie! Smile a little, would you?” He whined, poking Cas in the ribs, making him flinch. Gabriel’s eyes widened comically, looking like a child on Christmas. “Are you ticklish?”

Cas jerked away. “Nope, not at all.”

Gabriel poked him again, lower that time, making Cas flinch once again as he tried to get away, but he ended up just getting stopped by Claire. Gabriel took this as an invitation to dig his fingers into Castiel’s sides and tickle him relentlessly, making Cas flop around like a fish out of water.

“Gab- Gabriel! Sto-sto- stop!” Cas giggled, trying to bat Gabriel’s hands away, but ended up losing his balance and falling to the ground next to the bed. This didn’t stop Gabriel, of course, who jumped down to the floor and resumed his tickling as he straddled Cas’ hips.

Claire watched them with a raised eyebrow, before returning her attention to the mutant jellyfish on the TV screen.

“Plea-se st-t-op!” Cas whined from the ground.

“Hm, I don’t know.” Gabriel grinned, and looked to Claire for her opinion. Cas, realising Gabriel’s attention was elsewhere, took that as an opportunity to grab Gabriel’s shoulders and tackle him to the ground and they ended up in the opposite position to what they’d been in seconds ago.

“Not a fan of tickling now, are you, Gabe?” Cas grinned wolfishly, digging his fingers into Gabe’s sides. Gabriel didn’t even flinch.

“It’s a shame I’m not ticklish.” Gabriel grinned, before grabbing Cas and flipping them over once again, starting a full blown wrestling/tickling match, sending them rolling across the ground of the hotel room.

They didn’t even notice the door opening.

“Hey, guys! I-” Nicole said as she came in first, but stopping once she saw the state of the room. There was candy all around, flying jellyfish on the TV and Gabriel and Cas in an incriminating position on the ground.

Dean appeared behind Nicole, his eyes fixed on Cas; who was pinned to the ground beneath Gabriel, his hands stuck above his head. Dean looked hurt, Cas noticed.

“We’re looking for our friends, but I guess we walked in on the sex room by accident, huh?” Dean said bitterly, the words slipping out of his mouth like bullets out of a gun.

The pained look on Cas face made it look like he’d been shot, at least.

Gabriel stood up energetically, trying to diffuse the tension. “’s about time you two showed up!”

“There was a lot of traffic.” Nicole said, after realising Dean wasn’t going to answer. “Anyway… who’s room is this?”

“Yours and Claire’s.” Gabe said, before pointing to the door at the side of the room. “The adjoining room is mine, Dean and Cas’.”

Dean didn’t look very happy about the fact he would have to share a room with Gabriel.

“Anyway… I say we should go and fit in some rollercoasters tonight before dinner.” Gabriel grinned, changing the subject swiftly. “Who’s with me?”

The group agreed wholeheartedly, even though there was still an underlying tension radiating from Dean and Cas that affected all of them. After Nicole and Dean put their things in their room, Gabriel declared himself the tour guide and led them to the rides he wanted to go on. They went on the Big Thunder mountain railroad, followed by the Indiana Jones ride, which Dean loved way more than he let on, and after that they went to the haunted house. All the while, Claire and Gabriel were sharing sneaky glances.

“They’re not even speaking to each other!” Claire hissed once she got the chance. Castiel was reading a map and Nicole and Dean were stuffing their faces with hot dogs.

“Patience, little one.” Gabriel smirked, tapping Claire’s head. “Operation best plan ever is underway.”

“What?” Claire frowned, but Gabriel had already skipped away, shouting for them to follow him as he led them toward the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.

 

“You know,” Dean said, swallowing a mouthful of food. “I heard Johnny Depp hides on this ride sometimes and pretends to be part of it.”

“Wow, really?” Gabriel gasped with fake enthusiasm. “Why don’t you go on the ride and find out?” He said, leading them to the front where Gabriel greeted the worker by the ride, whispering something to him. The line was empty; the ride must have already been closed.

“C’mon, guys!” Gabriel beckoned them forwards. He grabbed Dean’s shoulder and ushered him into one of the boats and stepped on behind him. “Cassie! You get on this boat and the girls will go in the one behind us.” He ordered, and Castiel frowned but complied anyway.

The boat began to move, but at the very last minute Gabriel jumped off and ran back to where Nicole and Claire were waiting, leaving Dean and Cas alone, and very confused, in the boat as it disappeared through the tunnel.

“What the hell, Gabriel?” Nicole exclaimed as she watched them leave with wide eyes.

“Shhh. If we’re lucky, and very very quiet, we may hear the sound of true love blossoming.” Gabriel whispered.

“So I stop the ride halfway through, right?” The ride jockey asked Gabe, who nodded.

“Yup.” Gabriel grinned. “C’mon girls, there are some princesses outside that are calling my name.”

  
★               ★                ★

 

  
★               ★                ★

“Gabriel is one son of a bitch.” Dean grumbled, resting his head in his hands. “I’d bet my car that this is his plan. He’s probably gone to prey on some poor, unsuspecting princess right now, leaving us here.”

Cas frowned from where he was perched on the bench behind Dean, his back resting against the side of the boat. Without the singing pirates, the ride was as silent as a deserted sea cave.

“What’s that look for, Cas?” Dean asked, without raising his head, as though he knew Cas was frowning without even having to look.

“Well, it could be the fact that you’re suddenly chatty Carrie all of a sudden.” Cas snapped. “You haven’t spoken to me in weeks and now you’re just going to pretend everything is okay? Jesus, you’re such an assbutt! If you don’t want to be friends anymore you could have just _said so_ , Dean. It would hurt less than you just ignoring me for all this time! I understand that you’ve probably been with,” Cas grimaced, “ _Carmen,_ but that doesn’t mean that you can just blow me off! Everyone keeps making break up jokes, and Crowley keeps trying to hang out with me, which I don’t want to do because I hear he’s obsessed with that new Leviathan drug which he keeps asking me about! And then there’s this one fan that keeps following me everywhere! I went for a walk in the forest and she just appeared out of nowhere and she said her name was Daphne, which is probably a fake name and every person I try to ask about her just laughs! But you know, at least they actually bother to talk to me, unlike you!”

There was silence for a few moments, both men staring at the other; Cas was breathing heavily, his azure blue eyes alight with fury, and Dean was smirking with amusement.

“Chatty Kathy.” Dean said simply, his eyes never leaving Cas’.

“W-what?” Cas frowned, cocking his head to the side.

“Chatty Kathy. It’s Chatty Kathy, but you said Chatty Carrie.”

It happened slowly; Cas blinked, his nose scrunching up as his mouth stretched to a grin, bigger and bigger until he was chuckling, which turned into a full blown laugh, gripping his stomach for dear life. Dean joined in, guffaws wracking through his body as if a dam had broken in both of them.

Once they’d calmed down, they were silent again, but the tension had gone. They were both looking away from each other, their eyes scanning the fake pirates and treasure around them.

“I’m sorry, Cas.” Dean whispered after a while.

Cas’ eyes flicked towards Dean. “You aren’t getting off that easily.” He said, but there was no malice in his tone, only poorly concealed hurt.

“It was nothing, Cas.” Dean sighed, looking awkward.

“You don’t go from best friends to acquaintances because of _nothing.”_

“I just freaked, okay?” Dean blurted.

Gabriel’s words jumped to Cas’ mind; _Dean is having a gay panic_. _When a guy is being all lovey dovey one second, and then boom! Radio silence and awkwardness? He’s realised his feelings for you and is freaking out._

“…About what?” Cas asked.                      

Dean looked away. “God, Cas, don’t make me say it. I freaked out because I realised some things and it was a shock, and I didn’t mean to shut you out for so long, it just kind of snowballed, and I-” Dean paused, before sighing.

Cas could feel his heart pounding in his chest, anticipation tingling throughout his body. Dean’s eyes met Cas’, and Cas felt himself get lost in the raw emotion swirling within the green.

“I- What is this, Cas?”

“What’s what?”

“This.” Dean gestured to the both of them. “This _thing_ we have between us. You feel it, right?”

Cas’ silence was enough of an answer for Dean.

“It _scares_ me, Cas. You know how many people I’ve ever gotten close to? Four. My mom, dad, Sammy and Lisa, and you know what? They’ve all left me. They’ve all _hurt_ me, and I don’t want that to happen again, Cas.” Dean’s eyes were shining, his voice full of pain.

Cas swung his legs to the other side of the bench, his knees knocking against Dean’s. “It’s not going to happen again, Dean. I’m not going to hurt you. It would hurt me even more to do so.”

“What if I hurt you?” Dean growled. “I hurt everyone. My family, my fans, Lisa, Carmen, even you! And we aren’t even dating yet!”

Cas’ eyes widened. “What?”

“Huh?” Dean was confused, not realising what he’d said.

Cas was strugging to hide the grin that was bubbling inside of him, along with a cocktail of emotions, bright and bustling inside his stomach. “You- you said we’re not dating _yet.”_ Cas breathed.

Dean’s eyes widened comically wide. “Shit, I- I’m sorry, Cas, I-” Dean’s gaze was fixed on his hands, which were fidgeting in his lap.

“Don’t apologise.” Cas said sternly, placing his hand over Dean’s to calm the movements.

“I want to fix this, Cas, please.”

“Dean,” Cas took a deep breath. “It’s not broken.”

Dean’s eyes flicked upwards, and both men suddenly realised how close they were sitting.

Neither of them moved away.

“What I did wasn’t okay, Cas. I ignored you for weeks without an explanation, all because I’m a worthless son of a bitch, I’m a coward, and mean, and I- _”_

 _“_ Shut up, Dean, you are none of those things.” Cas ordered, his voice hard.

“Just answer me this, Cas. What is this? What are we?”

“You tell me, Dean. Seeing as you have a girlfriend, I would guess that we’re just friends, right?”

“I don’t even like Carmen! It was my publicist’s idea, okay?” Dean said with a strained voice. “Fuck, Cas. You mean more to me than she ever will. You’re my best friend, I mean, I’ve probably kissed you more than I’ve kissed her.” Dean joked, but it came out with more emotion than he’d been intending.

Cas frowned. “Why are you still with her, then?”

“Cas, I will break up with her the next time I see her if you want me to.”

“Yes.” Cas blurted, his hand coming up to cover his mouth the second the word had left his mouth. “I mean-”

“Cas.” Dean said, a smile slowly creeping onto his face. “Do you like me? _Like like me_?”

“No, I lo-” Cas began, but the rest of his sentence was cut off by the sound of the ride starting up again, the tinny music wafting through the dark tunnel.

“Looks like Gabe has decided we’ve slow cooked for long enough.” Dean observed.

“You know, there’s still another five minutes of tunnel to go through.” Cas grinned, sliding his hands slowly towards Dean’s hips.

 “Hm.” Dean grinned, grabbing Cas and quickly pulling him into his lap. “I wonder what we could do in that amount of time.”

Cas grinned, before grabbing the lapels of Dean’s shirt and latching his lips onto Dean’s.

They didn’t break apart until they reached the end; even when they had gotten to the flume part of the ride their lips had stayed in contact, both of them ignoring the water splashing on them or the ride camera flashing as it took their picture.

“Looks like Ross and Rachel have made up.” Gabriel grinned once they emerged from the tunnel, Cas still in Dean’s lap, his hair sticking up every which way.

“Goddamn.” Nicole grumbled, handing over a twenty dollar note reluctantly.

 

 

  
★               ★                ★

 

  
★               ★                ★

“You know, normal people would be in the Disney park, not watching Disney movies.” Claire said, coming through the door into the room where Gabriel, Dean and Cas were huddled on one of the queen beds, watching Aladdin. Castiel was in the middle, leaning against Dean, who’s arms were locked tightly around Cas. They hadn’t talked about the new development in their relationship, yet, they weren’t even sure if they were dating or just friends with benefits, but they were happy, for the moment.

Once Dean broke up with Carmen, they would be free to do whatever they wanted; not just kiss. Cas felt guilty for kissing Dean while he was going out with Carmen, but seeing as Dean and Carmen’s relationship wasn’t exactly real, he figured Carmen wouldn’t mind that much.

He hoped so, anyway.

“Shut up, Claire! The best part is coming up!” Gabriel yelled, throwing a cushion at them.

“You know it’s Christmas, right?” Nicole asked, as her and Claire got comfortable on the other bed.

“Yes, dumbass.” Dean said. “We were waiting for you sleuths to get out of bed.”

“If you didn’t pay me, we wouldn’t be friends.” Nicole grumbled, sticking her tongue out at Dean, who blew a kiss in return.

“Shut _up!”_ Gabriel yelled again, reaching over Cas to flick Dean in the forehead.

“Hey!” Dean protested, but Gabriel drowned it out by turning up the volume as Aladdin and Jasmine started singing. To Gabriel’s surprise, Cas was singing along under his breath,

“Cas, how do you know this song? You’re like, pop culturally impaired!” Gabriel asked.

“Dean forced me to watch Aladdin months ago, he claime he’d always wanted someone to duet this song with.”

Dean blushed as they all laughed, hiding his head in the nook between Cas’ neck and shoulder.

“Well don’t leave us hanging!” Gabriel goaded, and before long, all of them were singing along, giggling and messily trying to sing both parts at once.

Afterwards, they sat in a circle on one bed, presents piled in their laps. They opened them one person at a time, at Gabriel’s orders. He claimed it was because it would help them savour the moment more, but everyone knew it was because he was one nosy son of a bitch and he wanted to know what everyone got. Claire and Nicole ended up with an assortment of DVD’s, jewellery, books and tickets to some rock concert from Dean, his way of telling Nicole and Claire to leave for a while so he and Cas could have more alone time together. Gabriel got candy, a voucher to a pet store to buy things for his dog, more candy and a rainbow coloured leather bracelet.

“Is this from you, Nic?” Dean asked, holding up one of his presents.

 She nodded excitedly. “And Claire.”

“Oh, so now you two are a thing we only get one present?” Dean whined jokingly, earning a kick from Claire.

“Just open it before we take it back, ass.” Claire grinned.

It turned out to be a photo frame with openings to put several pictures in, which were already full. The first one was a picture of Cas, Claire and Nicole; they were standing inside the hair and make-up trailer on set, and Cas had bloody make-up on. The next was a picture of Cas by himself, his eyes wide and confused as he frowned at the camera, which Dean thought was almost illegally adorable. The one beneath that was one of all of them, plus Sam and Bela, at the Halloween party. The last two pictures were of Dean and Cas; one of them cut out of a magazine from the time he’d been caught pushing Cas around in a cart at the supermarket, and the other was one they’d taken on Halloween, Cas’ lipstick all over Dean’s mouth as they grinned giddily at the camera, looking like two teenagers on prom night.

“Thanks, guys.” Dean said, struggling to keep his voice from breaking. He could feel Cas looking at it over his shoulder, and he tilted the frame so he could see better.

“Dammit, that so makes my present look bad.” Gabriel sighed jokingly.

Dean opened Gabriel’s present next out of curiosity.

“Are you kidding me, Gabriel? If Claire and Nic had gotten me a sack of dirt it would have been better than this.” Dean said, making Gabriel break out into laughter.

Gabriel had gotten Dean a signed picture of himself.

A topless signed picture of himself.

“Shut up. I have you the best present you could have gotten yesterday, you ungrateful jerk.” Gabriel grinned, gesturing towards Castiel.

Dean rolled his eyes, but accepted it anyway, reaching for his last present.

He unwrapped it slowly, revealing the present from Cas. Instead of being one present, it was an old cardboard box, and inside was all three the Hobbit DVD's- because Cas knew that Dean wanted to see them, but didn't really like going to the cinema- and next to the them was a bracelet. It was braided leather, with a silver buckle. On the buckle, there was an angel wing etched to the side.

“Thank you, Cas.” Dean murmured as he slipped on the bracelet, kissing the shell of Cas’ ear. Dean could feel a shiver run through Cas’ body as Dean’s stubble scratched along Cas’ throat.

“Hey! Keep it PG-13, kids.” Gabriel scolded. “Cas, open your presents!”

“Dean, how did you know to buy me a present if we weren’t friends before coming?” Cas asked as he picked up one of his presents.

“How did you?” Dean retaliated.

“Touche.” Cas said, before tearing the wrapping off of the present. It was a recipe book, from Claire.

“Seriously, Claire?” Cas asked. It wasn’t that he didn’t like it, but he wasn’t the best of cooks.

Claire and Nicole shared an awkward look.

“It’s meant to be a joke, kinda.” Claire said. “You’ll need to be able to cook when you live alone.”

“Oh, when you move to college?”

“Um… The thing is, Nicole asked me to move in with her… and I said yes.” Claire announced.

“You what?” Cas asked, eyes darting between both of them.

“I was lonely by myself, and I like it when Claire’s over because she takes the spiders outside.” Nicole shrugged.

Cas was in shock. His sister was moving out? He was going to have to live alone?

Suddenly, Cas could feel the warmth of Dean’s arm as it wound around his back. “Calm down, baby.” Dean whispered into his ear, which didn’t really help much because Cas was still shocked about the fact his sister was moving out, and now he was even more shocked because Dean Winchester just called him baby.

“C’mon, Cassie! Open the rest so we can go on rollercoasters!” Gabriel exclaimed, nudging a present towards Cas with his foot.

Cas shook himself out of the trance he was in, deciding he’d worry about the Claire-moving-out thing later on. He opened the present Gabriel was giving him, revealing a gay porn book, a gay porn dvd and a book about guinea pigs, tied into a bundle.

“Seriously, Gabe?” Cas rolled his eyes, as he tried to act like the picture on the front of the dvd case wasn’t doing _things_ to him.

“You’ll thank me soon enough, Cassie.” Gabe winked.

Cas narrowed his eyes. “I hate you.”

“Love you too, sugar, now open your last presents.”

“Are these both from you, Dean?” Cas asked, picking them up.

“Sure are.” Dean grinned. Cas felt one of them, realising it was squidgy. Opening it, he revealed a blanket, which was almost identical to the one that had been destroyed at Dean’s house.

Cas looked up at Dean with wide eyes. “How-”

“I have my ways.” Dean smirked, before leaning in to whisper in Cas’ ear once again. “Even though I did enjoy you using me as a human blanket.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll use both.” Cas grinned, before opening the last present, revealing a black velvet box.

Cas’ heart thudded in his chest, even though he knew what was in the box wasn’t what it thought it was.

 _It can’t be,_ Cas thought.

Cas opened the lid and pulled out the ring that was inside it. He recognised it as Dean’s ring, the one he never took off. _Ever._ He’d even gotten the Not Natural writers to write it in as Jensen’s ring. Cas wasn’t sure of the story behind it, but he knew it was important to Dean.

“Dean, I-”

“Don’t even begin to say you don’t want it because it means a lot to me, Cas.” Dean said, knowing exactly what was going through Cas’ mind. “But you mean a lot to me, too. It’s not a proposal, not yet,” Dean winked, “It’s to make sure you know how much you mean to me.”

“Thank you, Dean.” Cas grinned, slipping the ring onto his right hand.

“Wow, I feel like I’ve just gotten cavities.” Gabriel smirked.

“If you have any cavities, it’s because of all the candy you eat, dumbass.” Dean replied swiftly, trying not to think too hard about the fact Cas was wearing his ring, or Cas was going to feel another present sticking into his side.

“Whatever. Can we go to the park now?” Gabriel whined.

“We need to get dressed, first.” Claire said, gesturing to her and Nicole.

“Fine, fine. You two go get dressed, and I’ll go and see if they have a vending machine in the lobby. I’ll meet you all there in twenty minutes!” Gabriel said, before grabbing his cell phone and jogging out of the room. The girls left shortly after, leaving Cas and Dean alone in their room.

“You wanna know the story behind that ring, Cas?” Dean asked, pulling the smaller man closer to him. Cas nodded, resting his head onto Dean’s chest.

“My mom died when I was four. I don’t have many memories of her, but I remember every morning she’d take me into her room after dad had gone to work and sit me on top of her dresser, where she kept a ring in a box. I asked her about it, and she said it was my granddad’s ring, and he’d given it to her. She didn’t want to give it to dad because he never really got on with my granddad, so she kept it on her dresser. She said one day she’d give it to me.” Dean took a shaky breath, before continuing.   “After she died, dad turned to alcohol, and we didn’t have much money. I didn’t want him to sell the ring, so I took it. I used to wear it on a chain around my neck, until my fingers were big enough to wear it. I never took it off.”

“Why the hell would you give it to _me_ , Dean? Shouldn’t you give it to your future wife or husband or whatever?”

“I did.” Dean grinned.

“Shut up.” Cas said, his cheeks darkening. “What’s gotten into you recently? You’re such a cheese ball.”

“I missed you, asshole; and now I’m making up for lost time. I almost turned into an alcoholic in the weeks we weren’t speaking, y’know.”

“You know, if you missed me _that_ much, you could have just spoken to me.”

“I was too deep in the realm of gay panic to do that, Cas.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re not there anymore.” Cas grinned, lifting his head from Dean’s chest to look into his eyes.

“Me too, Cas.” Dean grinned, leaning forward to press his lips to Cas’ softly. “Me too.”

 

  
★               ★                ★

 

  
★               ★                ★

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -the picture of jensen with a fan is meant to be a tumblr post from the fan, if that wasn't clear.  
> \- Dean's ring is not the same one as on the show. If you're a cockles fan, you know that Jensen gave Misha his ring, and the present was based on that.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, look! there's actually plot instead of just fluffy fluff for a change.
> 
> I'm sorRY FOR THE ANGST GUYS I SWEAR!!
> 
> ~~also, you've probably noticed this is restricted now, but this won't affect the fic. also, I deleted my fan fiction sideblog in case you were wondering what happened, i only use my main spn blog now~~

 

Lucifer smirked at the person in front of him, his eyes cold and calculating.

“Thanks for the information, sweetheart.” He said, his tone sharp. “But I need more. Especially if I want to get Cassie to come with me, which I do. Can you get it?”

“Can you get me the payment?”

Lucifer chuckled darkly. “Quite the tiger, aren’t you? Payment won’t be an issue. You get me the info I need, _including_ pictures, I’ll double the initial offer.” Lucifer narrowed his eyes. “Do we have a deal?”

“We have a deal. Castiel will be putty in the palm of your hand in no time.”

“I assume you will be getting your sister to help out?”

“Yes.” Came the simple reply.

Lucifer grinned, a smirk on his face. “Perfect.” He paused. “And before I forget, make sure something is done about that Winchester fellow. We can‘t have him screwing up our plans, can we?”

★               ★                ★ 

 

★               ★                ★

Things change again when they get back to Vancouver. Castiel could tell it was coming- could forsee it happening with every mile closer to home he and Dean got as Dean’s touches got less frequent, his movements more tense.

Castiel knew it couldn’t have lasted, anyway. That was the problem with being in the public eye; unless you were comfortable with the nation knowing, then you just couldn’t do it. Cas assumed this was the reason, because it was better than any other reason he could think of. He’d rather Dean not want to be with him because of being scared of the public than because he didn’t actually like him.

It was even worse when they pulled up outside of Dean’s house and Carmen was there waiting, looking like someone off of a beer commercial, leaning against a cherry red convertible parked in Dean’s driveway, wearing massive sunglasses. That wasn’t even the worst part, though. The worst part was when Dean got out of the car, strode over to Carmen and wrapped his stupid arms around her stupid waist and kissed her stupid lips.

Castiel wondered why Dean had even bothered inviting him over. He should have just taken him straight home.

Cas could do nothing but watch Dean make out with Carmen against the convertible; as if the last week hadn’t existed.

 _What happens in Disney stays in Disney, I guess_ , Cas thought to himself.

He just wished he hadn’t been so stupid.

“What are you doing here, babe?” Cas heard Dean say to Carmen, while he was taking a break from trying to clean her tonsils.

“A little birdy texted me and told me when you’d be home! Your assistant is just a doll.” Carmen cooed. Castiel thought she looked like a weird bug with the glasses on.

“Nicole told you to come here?” Dean frowned, confused. He’d told Nicole specifically to leave him and Castiel alone for the whole night; as he’d planned a nice evening for them both. She must have forgotten.

“Yes! Now, how about we get inside and you can tell me all about your trip?” Carmen grinned, running a hand up Dean’s bicep.

Dean looked back towards the impala. Castiel was nowhere to be seen; and the trunk was open.  

Ignoring the pang in his chest, Dean plastered a smile on his face. “Sure.”

 

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 ★               ★                ★

 

 

Castiel didn’t see his sister until three days later, when he returned to Not Natural’s set. He’d heard about the death of Bela’s character, and he would be lying to say he wasn’t anxious that his character was going to be killed off, too. He didn’t know what he’d do without his job or friends in Vancouver.

“Cas! I told you to _call_ me when you got home.” Claire chided Cas the second she saw him.

“Well if you were actually home, ever, you’d be able to see for yourself.” Cas snapped. Claire blinked, taken aback. Nicole suddenly appeared at her side, a frown on her face.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” She commented, raising an eyebrow. Cas huffed, running a hand through his already dishevelled hair.

“Stay out of this, it’s none of your business.”

“Is it not? You’re bitching at my girlfriend.”

“I’m her brother!”

“Not a good one.” Claire spat, turning on her heel and storming off, blonde hair moving like a curtain behind her.

Nicole took a step closer to Cas, an intimidating look on her face. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately, but it needs to stop.”

“I don’t approve  of Claire moving in with you. I know nothing about you! I’ve never even heard what your last name is.”

“It’s _Cortese,_ now why don’t you tell me who’s pissed in your cheerios, huh?”

“Dean.”

“You know, maybe you should move on from Dean, if he’s causing you this much stress that you won’t stop fucking complaining about him.” Nicole smiled and spun on her heel as Claire had, skulking away and leaving Cas stood frozen, wondering what had just happened.  He wasn’t sure if it was his foul mood, but Nicole seemed to have partaken in a personality change since the last time he’d seen her.

Castiel sighed, pushing his thoughts away. It was probably just his imagination.

He made his way onto set, nursing a black coffee, as he ran over his lines in his head. He only had a small scene to film today, and thank the lord above that it was a scene that Dean Winchester was not a part of.

“Cas!” Hannah exclaimed once Castiel got to where the scene was going to be filmed; a living room set with leather couches that Cas would pay to have a nap on. “It’s great to see you, how was your Christmas?”

“Fine, Hannah. And yours?” Cas smiled, throwing his empty coffee cup in a nearby trash can.

“It was good. I have several forms you need to sign, and you need to confirm your appearance at a few conventions, which I can do for you, just give me the word.”

“Put the forms in my trailer and I’ll flip through them as soon as I can, and please confirm all of the conventions, just make sure there’s no conflict with my shooting.”

“Got it. I also have this note that Dean told me to give you.” Hannah passed Castiel a small white envelope, Cas’ name scrawled in block letters on the back. “He said, and I quote, “Because he won’t answer my calls or nothin’ and I need to speak to him.” Hannah said, even doing a southern accent when impersonating Dean.

Cas shook his head, pushing the envelope back into Hannah’s hands. “Take it back to him.”

“Cas?”

“No, Hannah. Now if you don’t mind, I have a scene to shoot.” Cas sighed, ignoring Hannah’s wide eyed look as he walked over to the Director, getting his directions for the scene.

Even though he was filming the scene with Gabriel, they finished in record time, just before lunch.

“Great scene, Cassie!” Gabriel said once they’d finished. Their make-up artist stood in front of them, wiping fake blood off of their faces. “That sourpuss look you’ve got going today fit in the situation well.” He smirked.

Cas rolled his eyes. “Shut up.” Once his make-up artist was done, Castiel began to walk away; unfortunately Gabe’s face was also free of blood by now and he jogged to catch up with Cas.

“I’d bet a hundred dollars, and my whole candy stash, that you’re pouting because of Dean.” Gabriel grinned, throwing an arm around Cas’ shoulders, in a half brotherly, half protective gesture.

Okay, maybe not protective. It was more of a precaution so Cas wouldn’t run away.

“Am I that transparent?” Cas groaned, bringing his hands up to cover his face.

“Either that or I’m psychic.”

“I’m so pathetic. I always told myself I wouldn’t be _that guy,_ the one that is incapable of having a conversation other than about another man, or can’t think of anything else.” Cas sighed.

“What I don’t get is you two were like Mickey and Minnie last week, what the hell happened?”

“Carmen was at Dean’s place when we got there. You know what he did? He fucking got out of the car and made out with her.” Cas fumed.

“That idiot!” Gabe yelled. “That’s it. I’m gonna find that guy, and I’m gonna-”

“Gabe, stop.”

“At least let me prank him or something!”

Cas sighed, shrugging.

“Are you going to speak to him about it?” Gabriel asked, and Castiel was surprised at how serious his voice sounded. It was kind of scary, if he was honest.

“Seeing as I have a kissing scene to film with him in two days, I’d say I have to speak to him at some point.” Cas grimaced. “He gave Hannah a note to give to me, because I’ve been screening his calls.”

“What did it say?”

“I don’t know. I gave it back to Hannah.”

“What? There could have been money in there!”

“Money? Why would he put _money_ in there, Gabe?”

“I dunno! I can’t believe you didn’t open it. Aren’t you at least curious? I mean, he could have confessed his undying love for you in there and you’ll never know!”

“Should I go and see if Hannah still has it?” Cas frowned, eyes darting around the lot to see if he could spot his assistant. He couldn't see Hannah, but he did, however, see Nicole and Bela Talbot talking to each other next to the trailers. 

“No, dumbass, you should go and speak to Dean. You can’t go forever without speaking to him outside of set.”

“Why?”

“What would have happened if Rachel hadn’t talked to Ross after he banged the chick at the photocopier place? They never would have gotten together and had Emma!” Gabriel exclaimed, clasping Cas’ shoulder.

“Who are these people? I’m talking about Dean and I, Gabe.”

Gabriel chuckled, shaking his head affectionately. “Just talk to Dean. You know he doesn’t like Carmen. He may be a dick who’s running on a childhood of homophobic upbringing, but he cares about you, Cas. He needs you as much as you need him.”

“Can we not talk about Dean any longer?”

“Sure. I’m finished for the day, so how about we go and hit up some candy stores then go to the movies?” Gabriel grinned, nudging Cas with his elbow.

Cas smiled, nodding. “I’d like that.”

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

Dean felt like crap.

It had been four days since he’d last seen Cas, and it felt like every second that passed by, the hole in Dean’s chest grew bigger. He didn’t even know how he’d gone from being friends with Cas to suddenly having a gigantic crush on the guy, but it had.

If anyone had told him last year that woman loving, manly man, heterosexual Dean Winchester would have a crush on another guy, and want to be with said guy over Carmen Porter, he would have laughed in their face.

Last week at Disney Land felt like a dream; and thinking of it made Dean’s stomach twinge, but he wasn’t sure if it was because he missed it, or because he was embarrassed. Not of Cas, of course, but of the way he’d acted. He’d basically been all over the guy,  which would have been fine and dandy if it hadn’t been in front of Gabriel, Claire and Nicole.

Okay, maybe it was because he missed Cas.

 _Why am I such an idiot?_ Dean thought to himself. _I should have sent Carmen home the second I saw her._

Cas wouldn’t even speak to him.

“Mr Winchester?” A short receptionist called out from behind a mahogany desk. “Mr Adler will see you now.”

Dean smiled and stood up from the velvet couch he’d been sitting on, and made his way to the door which was labelled ‘Zachariah Adler’.  His personal publicist had retired, meaning Dean had to use the show’s publicist; who was, to put it nicely, a gigantic douchebag.

But it had to be done. Dean needed to end this charade, before he lost Cas for good.

“Dean! What can I do for you?” Zachariah asked with a snake-like smile, narrowing his eyes at Dean from behind his desk.

“I needed to speak to you.”

“Well, obviously, otherwise you wouldn’t have made an appointment. Now, hurry it up, I’ve got other clients to see.”

Dean sat down in the plush chair opposite the desk. “It’s about Carmen. I need to break it off with her.”

“No can do, Winchester.” Zachariah said simply.

“What do you mean, _no can do_? I have to break up with her at some point!” Dean shouted. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t do it to her, or anyone. I don’t like the lies, Zach.”

“That’s Mr Adler to you, boy.” Zachariah frowned, leaning forward on his desk. “What do you think my job is, Dean? To cater to your happiness? No! I do what the network tells me to do, to get publicity to my clients, _good_ publicity that reflects well on both the show and the network.”

“So what, I’m supposed to be with this chick forever?” Dean fumed, his fists clenched at his sides. Why the hell had he even chosen to be an actor? It was all lies.

“You do what the network, my higher ups, want you to do.” Zachariah said sternly.

“What if I refuse?”

“You won’t like the outcome, I promise you that.” Zachariah replied.

“This is a joke! You know, this is my _life._ You can’t treat me like some sort of puppet! Just give me a  damn reason why I can’t break up with her!”

“Bad publicity, Dean. It will make you look like a player.”

“But I never wanted to date her! It was always a given that I was going to break-up with her at some point.”

“Just not at this point.”

“Screw you, Zach. I don’t give a crap what you say, because I’m going to break up with her.” Dean promised. “And if you and your bosses have a _problem_ with that, then you can shove it up your ass!”

“Dean-”

“No! If you’re going to threaten me or something, don’t bother. If you do that, I will make sure to give you a damn bad publicity. Coke parties, orgies, drunk driving, you name it!”

Zachariah narrowed his eyes, before sighing- he knew he was trapped. “Winchester, go wait outside while I call my boss.”

Dean smirked and went back to sit on the couch where he’d been only five minutes ago, feeling as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. It wouldn’t fix everything with Cas, but it was a start.

Five minutes later, Dean was called back in to Zachariah’s office.

“Well, Dean. I’ve just spoken to my boss.” Zachariah said, red faced, as Dean sat down. “And he believes it is possible for us to come to a compromise.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “Compromise?”

“One, Carmen is the one to break up with you. Two, you will not embark on another relationship for at least five months, Three, you will be on your best behaviour. _Always._ No strippers, no crimes, no public drinking, and four, you attend twenty percent more photo shoots and interviews.”

Dean thought about it. Five months meant May 4th, to be exact. Could he wait that long?

“Failure to follow these rules will result in termination of your contract with the network, Not Natural and Not Natural’s affiliates, and you will get sued. Do we have a deal?”

Dean paused, taking a deep breath. “Deal.”

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

★               ★                ★

Dean stopped by Carmen’s house on the way home from Zachariah’s office, his palms sweating as he walked up to the front door.

“Dean?” Carmen said once she saw who was on her porch, her eyes wide and full of surprise.

“We need to talk, Car.”

Carmen ran a hand through her dark hair, pulling it behind her ear. “Do you want to come in?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Dean shook his head, sliding his hands into his back pockets awkwardly. Carmen nodded, crossing her arms and leaning against the door frame.

“Well?”

“You need to break up with me.” Dean said.

Carmen blinked, cocking her head to the side. The gesture reminded Dean of Cas.

“Why would I break up with you?”

“Because we’re not working out, and you know it.”

Carmen sighed, nodding in understanding. “I knew this was a temporary thing, but I was kinda hoping we’d fall in love at some point, y’know?”

Dean chuckled. “It would make things easier, wouldn’t it?”

“I can tell your hearts already gone to someone else, though.” Carmen grinned, looking at Dean from beneath her eyelashes with a knowing look.

“Kinda.”

Carmen’s smile slowly turned into a smirk. “Is it Castiel?”

“W-what, um, what? Why would you say that?” Dean stuttered, almost popping a vein in his effort to stop himself blushing.

“I think we’ve had more conversations about Castiel than kisses, Dean.”

Dean rubbed the back of his neck with a shrug.

Carmen laughed, placing a small hand on Dean’s other arm. “It’s okay, my lips are sealed. Consider this me breaking up with you, Dee. And, just fyi, I have a sister you can have if things don't work out between you and Cas.”

Dean grinned, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. “Thanks.”

“Don’t be a stranger, okay? Go get ‘im, tiger.”

“Soon.” Dean promised. “I need to get him to forgive me, first.”

 

 ★               ★                ★

 

 ★               ★                ★

By the next day, everyone had heard the news- from the cast and crew of Not Natural to Dean’s fans. Twitter and Tumblr basically exploded with happy destiel shippers, but the happiest person by far was definitely Gabriel.

“Samsquatch!” Gabriel yelled, running into the taller man’s house, to the kitchen where Sam was cutting up fruits and placing them in a blender. Bela was sat on the counter opposite him, eating a banana.

“Gabriel,” Sam sighed. “What have I told you about just showing up at my house uninvited?”

“Well, I have big news and you weren’t on set today! Did you hear?” Gabriel was bouncing with excitement as he went to lean on the counter by Bela, who looked indifferent to the conversation.

“Hear what?” Sam asked with a frown.

“Hear about Dean!” Gabriel exclaimed. Bela’s head turned quickly, suddenly interested in the news.

“What? Is he engaged to Carmen, or something?” Bela asked with a big smile, her eyes twinkling.

“No, they’ve broken up.” Gabriel grinned. “Now he can be with Cas!”

Bela’s smile slipped off her face as quickly as it had appeared, her eyes narrowing as she grimaced. “What?”

“Wow, Bela. Look happier, will you?” Gabriel frowned. “What’s your deal?”

“I, I just don’t believe that they’re good for each other, that’s all. Now if you excuse me, I have people to see, things to do.” Bela flipped her hair over her shoulder and disappeared out of the kitchen.

“Wow, Sammy. In two years you’re gonna be ball and chained to that!” Gabe winked, pushing himself up to sit in the space where Bela had vacated.

“Well yeah, that’s what engaged usually means.”

“Anyway, that’s not the only news, but I needed Bela out before I could tell you.” Gabe smirked, looking as though he knew the secret to world domination and no one else did.

Sam’s eyes flicked towards Gabriel for a second. “What?”

“Do you know someone named Jessica Moore?”

Sam’s fruit cutting stopped, as his gaze lasered in on Gabriel. “ _Jess?_ I went to high school with her!What about her? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine, gigantor, but she did show up on set today.”

“What? Why? Was she looking for me?” Sam asked, his words tumbling out of his mouth quickly.

“Wow, your ego is as big as you, Samsquatch! No, she’s one of the script writers.”

Sam’s eyes bugged out of his head. “So what, she lives here now? Where? Did she look good? Healthy, I mean? Happy?”

“Jeez, calm down! Remember Bela? Your future wife?”

Sam deflated, looking guilty. “Shit.”

“Happens to the best of us.”

“Great, I have to work on a TV show where one of the script writers is my childhood sweetheart. What has my life come to?” Sam groaned, rubbing his eyes with a large hand.

“At least Bela doesn’t work there anymore.” Gabe shrugged.

If bitch faces could kill, Gabriel would be dead by now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (if you don't know, Nicole's name is based on Genevieve Cortese's middle name, hence the surname)


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I've finally outlined the rest of the story and there's going to be 22 chapters plus an epilogue, meaning we're on the home stretch now! (nearly, anyway) I'm so excited to write these next few chapters including the convention scenes!!

 

Castiel was in the middle of packing his bags for the upcoming convention when he heard the front door bang open, and surprisingly, only the sound of one person’s footsteps coming up the stairs. Seconds later, Claire was barging into his room, throwing herself onto Castiel’s bed.

“Where’s your shadow?” Cas smirked, as he folded up one of his shirts and stuffed it in the black bag haphazardly.

Claire stuck out her tongue. “At home.”

Cas nodded, feeling slightly awkward. He hadn’t spoken to Claire since the other day; when they’d fought.

“Are you excited for the convention?”

“Sure, I guess.” Cas shrugged.

“I need to ask you something.” Claire said, fidgeting with the hem of her t-shirt. Cas paused his packing, raising his eyebrows at his sister.

“I know me and Nicole are planning on moving in together, but…” Claire sighed. “I don’t know if I should.”

Cas’ eyebrows drew together. “You don’t want to move in with her?”

Claire shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I, I applied early admission to Stanford, Sam helped me. They want me to go there, starting after graduation.”

“You got in to Stanford? Claire, that’s amazing!” Cas exclaimed, but Claire looked far from happy.

“That’s not all. I went to see it, before we went to Disney Land. I met a few people there, and I met this girl, who said her sister is my age and they’ve got a house in Palo Alto which they already live in, but they need a roommate. They asked me to move in with them.” Claire drew in a breath. “I don’t know whether I should move in with them, or stay up here in Vancouver and move in with Nicole.”

“So basically, you’re trying to choose between Stanford and Nicole?”

Claire nodded with a wistful sigh.

“Claire, if you actually went to Sam and asked him for help getting into Stanford, it obviously means a lot to you. Don’t give up your dreams for one person; it’s not worth it.”

“Would you do it if you had to leave Dean?”

Cas paused. “I’m already living my dream, Claire. I won’t ever have to choose.”

“Right.”

“So, are you coming to the con?”

Claire sighed and shook her head. “I don’t think it’d be a good idea. I need to be with my thoughts for a while. Go it alone. Have fun though, okay? This is your first con as an actor.”

Cas grinned, thinking about how only months ago he and Claire had attended the convention in Chicago; it felt like much longer than that. “Yeah, I will.”

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

The Friday morning of the con, Castiel decided to take the opportunity to go for a walk and see some of the sights; especially the infamous bridge. He’d dressed in one of his quirky sweaters, this one with a werewolf on the front. He made it all the way to the outside of the hotel before noticing that the area was swarming with fans- even though it was only nine am. After talking to a few of the fans at the front of the line, they informed Cas that they were waiting in line for Sam and Dean’s panel; which was several hours away. Apparently, Sam felt that conventions were ungodly expensive and had declared that the seats to his and Dean’s panel would be first come, first serve.

Most of the fans looked cold and tired; some of them had sleeping bags and backpacks littering the ground next to them. Cas wondered how he’d missed them when he arrived last night.

Castiel admired their dedication, and decided he’d talk to a few of them and see how they were. Some of them looked shell shocked by the sight of him walking up to them, hugging them or shaking their hands, but others were talkative and bubbly and before Cas realised, he’d been there for three hours.

“How come you’re out here talking to us? You should be hanging out with Dean or something!” One of the fans said to him; and to Cas’ surprise, she was wearing a ‘I heart destiel’ t-shirt. Which definitely did _not_ make Cas cough awkwardly and blush.

“Well, I was going to go and see the sights for a while, but I seem to have lost track of time.” Castiel replied, causing at least 10 of the fans to burst into laughter. Cas wanted to ask them what was funny, but before he could utter the words another fan was asking him for a picture.

“How long have you guys been here?” Castiel asked another fan. She shrugged, red hair falling across her shoulder.

“Only since yesterday morning. We were going to come earlier, but we decided we didn’t want to sleep on the street, so we came yesterday and thought we could just stay awake until after the panel.” The girl explained.

“Not as easy as it seemed.” Another fan added, presumably the first girl’s friend. They both looked tired, and in desperate need for sleep and/or caffeine.

“I could keep your place in line if you wish to go and get coffee?” Cas offered, unsure of what else to say.

“Thanks for the offer, but we’d be sent to the back.” The redheaded girl declined, pointing a black nailed finger towards a sign with big letters; ‘No queue jumping, place holding or fighting,’ it read.

Cas frowned, his eyes moving to the fans around him. They all looked in similar state to the girls he was speaking to, tired and impatient. Seeing as they were towards the end of the line, it made Cas wonder how long the fans at the front had been there.

Castiel suddenly got an idea. “Let me handle it.” He told the girls before rushing inside and finding a group of people who were hanging out around the couches in the reception area; presumably waiting for the con to officially begin. They all looked up with wide eyes when they saw Cas approach, sitting a little bit straighter in their seats.

“If you guys help me do something, I will get you all an autographed picture from everyone in the cast.” Castiel declared. In the end, five of them agreed, and Castiel led them all past the line of fans and towards the nearest coffee shop, which was thankfully only a block away.

“What are we doing?” One of Castiel’s helpers asked; a man with a picture of Gabriel’s character on the front. He’d introduced himself as Noah, if Castiel remembered correctly.

“We,” Castiel said as he pushed open the door to the coffee shop, inhaling the strong aroma radiating through the room, “Are going to take coffee to everyone in the line outside.”

“Everyone?” Another helper gasped. “That’s like 150 people, at least!”

“Good thing there’s six of us and a whole shop of coffee, then.” Castiel said simply. He had the money, the coffee and the hands; so why not give something back to the fans outside?

“I’d like 150 cups of coffee.” Castiel stated to the barista at the cash register, who’s jaw dropped open and her gum fell out of her mouth.  “I have money.” Castiel dropped his credit card onto the counter.

The barista nodded and told her co-workers, who hastily got to work.

“Amanda, right?” Cas asked the helper to his left; she nodded. “You’re in charge of the sugar and stuff. Get a bucket and fill it with sugar packets, milk, stirrers, anything you can get.” Castiel then turned to the rest of them. “If you don’t regret your decision to help, then I’d appreciate it if you would assist me in handing out the coffee.”

Thankfully, neither of them backed down.

Once Castiel had explained to the baristas what he was doing, they happily gave him trays that they could borrow to carry the coffee on; each tray could hold ten coffees.

That meant only three trips at most for each of them; assuming all the fans outside wanted coffee.

Castiel helped put the coffee on the tray, and once all his volunteers were loaded with coffee, he took his own tray and walked to the front of the line. Amanda followed him with her bucket; donated by one of the baristas. Castiel didn’t miss the way they had looked at each other when the barista had given her the bucket.

“Is this for us?” One of the fans at the front asked.

“Yes.” Castiel smiled. The fan’s eyes widened.

“You are a saint! I love you so much!”

Castiel felt a warm flutter in his chest at the fact the fans were so pleased; it made him happy to see all of them so overjoyed at the simple sight of coffee.

“How long have you been here?”

“Four days.” They answered.

After a few more pictures and talking to a few more fans, he returned to the coffee shop. Castiel repeated his trip another two times; basking in the happy faces of the fans he met. They all seemed so thankful at just the small gesture.

By the time he’d finished, it was almost lunch time. He’d have to go and see the bridge some other time, Cas supposed.

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

 

After Dean’s panel with Sam, it was time for autographs, and of course, Dean and Castiel were made to sit together- someone had scheduled their autograph sessions for the same time. They tried to ignore the palpable tension, but it was like trying to ignore a lion in a nursery. Dean was aching to say something to him, anything, but he didn’t want to do it in front of a whole room of fans. Instead, he suffered in silence as he and Cas sat side by side for what felt like days.

Halfway through, a girl with a leather jacket and purple spiked hair came up to the table, and handed Cas a picture of him and Dean to sign. Dean watched the exchange out of the corner of his eyes.

“Castiel, are you any good at giving advice?” The girl asked, her fingers clutched around the small Dmitri and Jensen figurines in her hands.

Cas frowned, but he looked curious. “What’s your name?”

“Ellie.” The girl replied.

“What’s on your mind, Ellie?” Dean had to force himself not to snort, because Cas sounded like some sort of therapist, or maybe the status bar on facebook.

“I was wondering, if you love someone, should you tell them? Even if it might ruin things?” Ellie asked, with a wistful look, which was directed at someone to the right of them.

“Is that her?” Cas asked, his eyes following Ellie’s gaze to Gabriel’s autograph table, where a girl with tumbling black hair was getting a picture signed.

Ellie nodded with a blush. “She’s my best friend.”

 “Well, if you really want my opinion,” Cas said, and the girl nodded enthusiastically. Cas could feel Dean’s gaze boring into the side of his face, but he ignored it. “If you love someone, you tell them. Even if you’re scared that it’s not the right thing. Even if you’re scared that it’ll cause problems. Even if you’re scared that it will burn your life to the ground. You say it, and you say it loud, and you go from there.”

Ellie blinked, before grinning and throwing her arms around Cas in a hug. “Thank you! Um, I’m sorry for the hug, I know I’m not supposed to do that unless you hug first.”

“It’s fine, Ellie. It was nice to meet you.”

Ellie grinned. “You too!” She said, and skipped away.

“Didn’t peg you for the advice type, Cas.” Dean said from his spot. He hadn’t signed a picture in the whole time Cas was speaking with Ellie.

Cas shrugged, and went back to signing autographs.

Castiel's words were still floating around in Dean's head even when they'd finished the autographs.

 

★               ★                ★

 

Dean didn’t see Cas again that day, and he knew that he was being avoided.

On Saturday morning, Dean decided to take matters into his own hands, and went to look for Cas, which wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Dean looked what felt like everywhere; the dining room, the green room, the stage room, outside, and he even got Gabriel to go and see if Cas was still in bed, but Cas wasn’t in any of those places.

Dean had almost given up when he’d seen the door labelled ‘stairway to roof’, and he suddenly knew exactly where Cas was; there was no doubt in his mind.

Every step Dean took up the stairs felt like either a step towards his death sentence, as visions of Cas telling him to go screw himself filled his mind.

Would Cas even forgive him?

Dean opened the door onto the roof, and the image of Cas sat on one of two plastic chairs in the middle of the roof came to view.

 He could also see the San Francisco bridge out of the corner of his eye, which normally would have made Dean think _wow that’s pretty cool,_ but with Castiel sitting in his line of vision the bridge could have stood up and done the Macarena and Dean would still rather look at Cas.

“This seems like déjà vu, don’t’cha think, Cas?” Dean said, closing the heavy metal door behind him with a clang.

Cas, for his part, didn’t even seem fazed at Dean’s appearance. “Hello, Dean.” He said, before turning his head and letting his gaze shift to the bridge.

That’s when Dean realised Cas wasn’t surprised at all that Dean had found him; he’d _wanted_ Dean to find him. Why else would he have gone up to the roof, of all places? The place where he and Dean had talked for so long in Chicago?

Dean hesitated only for a moment before walking over to sit in the empty chair.

“Have you ever wanted to just get in a car and drive away for a while?” Dean asked, mirroring Castiel’s position and facing the bridge.

Castiel shrugged. “Sure.”

“Ever since I was a kid,” Dean took a deep breath. “I dreamed of getting in the impala and just driving, y’know? No destination, no plans. Just me n’ the road, eating diner food and meeting all these new people, seeing all these new places, I just didn’t want to do it on my own. Sammy never wanted to go, he was never the type. He needs the stability and the permanence, even though sometimes he pretends he doesn’t. Because of that, I stopped looking for opportunities for a going on a road trip, and started looking for someone to be with, someone to be at my side, road trip or not.”

Dean looked at Cas. “I don’t look anymore, Cas. I’ve found him.”

Cas’ face was unreadable, and if Dean hadn’t been looking at Cas so intensely, he wouldn’t have noticed the way his fingers clenched on the edge of the chair.

Apart from that, though, Cas didn’t reply for a few minutes, letting Dean’s words sink in.

“You know,” Cas said, his eyes flicking towards Dean briefly. “I’ve always wanted to go on a road trip. I’ve heard the world’s biggest ball of twine is a must see.”

Dean blinked as the meaning of Cas’ words settled in; and then it hit him. This was Cas forgiving him; it was him saying yes.

Not that he deserved it.

“We can see whatever you wanna see, Cas, as long as we can take cheesy pictures of ourselves next to it.” Dean grinned, half expecting Cas to turn around and say; _I didn’t mean with you, idiot._

The words didn’t come.

“I heard you broke up with Carmen.” Castiel said instead, swiftly changing the subject.

 

“Yeah.” Dean replied. “But if anyone asks, she broke up with me. It’s part of my contract.”

Castiel turned slightly towards Dean, raising an eyebrow. “Contract?”

“I, uh.” Dean rubbed the back of his neck. “I kinda had to convince my publicist to let me break up with her. It was pretty tooth and nail for a while, but we came to a compromise in the end. I had to promise to be on my best behaviour, no strippers or obvious drunkness, no dating for at least five months, blah blah.”

“So, you’re single, then?” Cas asked, smiling for the first time that morning, looking like a kid on Christmas.

“Yeah, I gue-”

Before Dean could finish his sentence, he had a lapful of Cas.

“I’m still pissed off that you blew me off after Disney, but I forgive you. I know I probably shouldn’t, not without forcing you to grovel, but I’m tired of this. Just say that we can actually be together, no complications, no angst, no _anything_.”

“No anything? I dunno, that sounds kinda boring…” Dean sighed, earning a swat on the arm from Cas.

“Shut up, you know what I mean.”

“Cas, you know I can’t date for five months-”

“Since when does Dean Winchester follow rules?” Cas asked with a quirked eyebrow. “Besides, what your publicist doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

“I knew there was a reason I liked you.” Dean chuckled, sliding his arms up to grip onto Castiel’s hips, and Dean caught a glimpse of the watch on his wrist. “We have a panel in thirty minutes.” Dean said. He’d had to bribe the convention planner to change the schedule and let him and Cas do a panel together, but in the end she’d caved.

 Cas grinned. “Better kiss me quick then, Winchester.”

 Dean never backed down from a challenge.

 ★               ★                ★

Dean and Cas were ten minutes late to their panel; after having to take a detour in Cas’ room because he needed a high collared shirt.

Not because he had a hickey the size of Texas on his neck, or anything.

A tinny rock song played through the speakers as they walked onto stage; trying as hard as they could to not look or touch each other for too long. It was driving both of them mad; and the panel hadn’t even begun yet.

Dean and Cas sat on the chairs on stage, waving as they waited for the cheering to stop.

“Hey, everyone!” Dean grinned, once it was quiet enough. They all dutifully called hello back, which made Dean’s grin grow even more. “Guys, be gentle today, okay? This is Cas’ first panel.” Dean chuckled, nudging Cas with his elbow.

Cas rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Dean.”

There was a sudden silence as the crowd quietened in anticipation, and Dean and Cas shared a glance, before looking back out to the crowd.

“Welcome to awkwardville, population: two.” Dean said, and the crowd burst into laughter. “How about we start with some questions, huh?”

Their first question was asked by a woman in her thirties; donning a Not Natural hand-knitted sweater which Cas had seen yesterday, when he’d met her in line.

“Castiel, I just want to thank you for getting us coffee yesterday-” The woman began, but was promptly cut off by the crowd cheering.

Castiel had to bite the insides of his cheeks to stop himself from making a stupid-crazy-happy face.

“And my question to you; is Mark Pellegrino actually your brother?”

Castiel shifted in his seat, before nodding slowly. “I only recently found out, but yes. I’ve only spoken to him once in nearly twenty years, though. We’re not close whatsoever.” Castiel left out the fact that Lucifer had almost threatened him to move down to Hollywood with him.

The next question came from a petite blonde man with a Texan accent. “I want to tell y’all that the chemistry you have on screen is amazing, you’re both such good actors.” Cue crowd cheering. “And I was wondering, I mean, chemistry like that doesn’t just come from friendship, and I really want to know, and I’m sure everyone else does too; are you guys more than friends?”

The crowd went wild, cheering in anticipation for the answer. It baffled both Dean and Cas that so many people seemed to think, or at least want, them to be in a relationship.

Dean and Cas shared an awkward look, fighting without words on which one would have to answer the question.

Dean lost, of course.

“Well, I- uh. We’re best friends, y’know? Of course there’s gonna be chemistry, I mean, we spend so much time together.” Dean chuckled, and the crowd seemed to take the answer, albeit a little disappointedly.

 _You’re gonna have to wait five months, guys._ Dean thought.

They sailed through a few more questions easily, most of them directed towards Castiel seeing as he was, as one fan put it, ‘fresh meat’. They all seemed curious about Cas, seeing as they hadn’t heard much about him.

Of course, some questions were inevitable.

“Describe your perfect girl?” A fan asked, twirling her hair around her finger and biting her lip suggestively.

Castiel swallowed the lump in his throat, rubbing the back of his neck. “I don’t really have a perfect girl.” He said.

“So, you’re open to any kind of girl, then?” The girl smiled.

“Actually, I prefer men.” Castiel blurted, and he had to thank his lucky stars that he didn’t blush afterwards.

The crowd was silent for a few moments, before they started to cheer.

Castiel didn’t know if it was because they were acceptant of his sexual orientation or because they were _that_ much closer to seeing him and Dean together.

The next forty minutes were spent mostly questionless, however. Dean and Cas had both started to open up on stage, and were telling the crowd about  on-set happenings and funny stories; several of the fans had tears in their eyes from laughter.

“And then Gabe actually sat in the soup.” Dean guffawed. The fans in the front rows were close enough to see the ‘major heart eyes’ Cas was giving Dean as he told his stories, and were bouncing excitedly in their seats.

“Watching them is like watching mating season on animal planet.” One fan whispered to her friends, and they agreed wholeheartedly.

“Okay, then, how about I tell them about what happened on the small world ride in Disney land, Dean?” Cas grinned, and Dean’s eyes widened.

“You dare.” Dean pointed to him threateningly.

Cas ignored him, and turned to the crowd excitedly. “When we were on the Small World ride in Disney Land, Dean got so scare-”

Before Cas knew what was happening, Dean was lunging towards him and placing his hand over his mouth.

“Wow, wasn’t that a great story!” Dean said, turning towards the crowd but still keeping his hand on Cas’ mouth.

Cas pulled backwards and jumped off his chair, and ran to the edge of the stage, microphone in hand. “He got so _scared_ of the little singing figures that he started freaking out-”

Dean was moving towards Cas again, but this time, Cas saw him coming and jumped off of the stage, running down the aisle towards the back of the room while he continued his story. “He kept repeating, those things are not natural, when will this ride be over?”

Dean raced after him, and Cas dove down one of the rows of seats, squeezing himself inbetween two fans. The seats were to close together for Dean to squeeze his way after him.

“By now he was nearly crying and saying he wanted to get off, to the point where the children sat in front of us turned around and told him to shut up.” Cas chuckled, while Dean stood on the aisle with his arms crossed and a grumpy look on his face.

“But that’s not even it! When we were getting off, he tripped on the side of the boat and fell over and he was convinced, and I mean convinced, that one of the singing figures had come out of the tunnel and pushed him out of the boat. He ran out of there so fast.” Cas finished, causing the crowd to fall into stitches of laughter.

Dean walked dejectedly back to the stage, and Cas joined him a few minutes later.

“I hate you.” Dean grumbled.

“Don’t be grumpy or I’ll make you go back on the ride.” Cas teased, and Dean shoved him playfully. They both sat back down in their chairs with gigantic smiles on their faces.

“So, maybe we should go through a few more questions?” Dean asked.

“You only have ten minutes left!” One of the handlers shouted from the side of the stage.

“What, really?” Dean looked surprised. The panel had gone by much faster than usual. “Okay, let’s get through some questions really, really quickly.”

“Okay, I just want to say I love you,” The fan on the right side question stand began, “And I love Not Natural so much, and I want to say thank you for everything, did you know you’re my favourite actors? I-”

“No, I didn’t know!” Dean exclaimed. “Great question, next!”

The crowd laughed, understanding that Dean was only being playful and not meaning to insult the fan whatsoever.

Dean pretended to ask the left person for a question, before changing his mind and going back to the previous fan. “I’m sorry, carry on!”

“Well, my question is-”

“Too slow, next question!” Cas shouted, turning his head towards the left side question stand. The crowd, and Dean, began to laugh, and Dean placed his hand on Cas’ cheek and pushed his head so he was looking at the fan that was trying to ask the question.

“Okay, we’re sorry.” Cas grinned. “Continue.”

“Okay, um, what’s your favourite color?” The fan asked, and the crowd laughed at the simplicity of the question after such hassle.

“After all that?” Dean groaned. “It’s blue, by the way.”

“Mine’s green.” Cas added. “Next question?”

They were about to ask the next fan for her question, but they were interrupted by one of the handlers hissing at them to tell them their panel was over.

“Over already?” Cas frowned. He never thought he’d enjoy doing the panel as much as he had; but it had been a lot of fun, he had to admit.

“That sucks.” Dean said, and the crowd voiced their agreements. “Well, we should probably get off the stage so the next circus act can come on.” Dean joked, and the crowd protested.

After five minutes of goodbyes, and several complaints from their handlers, Dean and Cas made it out of their panel.

“So, dude. First panel, thoughts?” Dean asked once they’d gotten away from the noise of the crowd.

“It was very enjoyable.” Cas said, his grin so large he was showing his gums.

“Don’t think I’m not gonna get you back for the smallworlds thing, by the way.” Dean warned with a deep voice, making Cas shiver slightly.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Cas winked. “I have to go do photo ops now, I’ll see you later.”

Of course, Dean didn’t let him go without dragging him to an abandoned corridor and kissing him goodbye first.

After Cas went off to do his photo ops, Dean returned to the green room. To his surprise, the cast members in the room didn’t look like their happy or cheerful selves; instead they looked glum.

“Wow, who died?” Dean asked, sitting next to Gabriel on one of the couches. The shorter man looked at him with a crestfallen look.

“We just got the news that the show might not be brought back next season.” Gabriel told him; and Dean knew it was bad because he didn’t think he’d ever heard Gabriel speak without making a joke or innuendo, or at the very least a stupid pet name.

 “W-what?” Dean gaped. “How do you know?”

“Edlund was here a few minutes ago, you just missed ‘im. He told us.” Gabriel explained. “They said they think we’re going stale, those mother fuckers. We’re the best show on their fucking network.”

“They can’t do that! Don’t we have a three year contract?” Dean protested, even though he knew it wasn’t going to do anything to help the situation whatsoever.

Gabriel shrugged.

“Whatever.” Dean shook his head. “I’m off.” He declared. He didn’t want to be in the green room with everyone in such bad moods; it was bringing him down.

Dean pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent out a text, before disappearing to his room; hopefully, there would be a doctor sexy M.D. rerun on.

**To Castiel >**

_Wanna go out 2 dinner tonight? fancy. my treat._

**< From Castiel**

_sure. :) :)_ _as long as we get to see the bridge! *bridge emoji*_

 

★               ★                ★

 

 ★               ★                ★

At one in the morning, there was a knock on Cas’ door.  Cas blinked groggily as he went to open the door, the only piece of clothing on his body was a pair of navy boxer shorts. Cas didn’t know who he was expecting at the door, but he was pleasantly surprised.

 Dean stood in the doorway, his eyes glued to the floor and his hands linked together in front of his body, making him look like childlike. He looked nervous; his right foot scuffing across the red hotel carpet.

“Dean?” Cas frowned, his head tipping to the side like it often did when he was confused, “What are you-”

Dean’s eyes flicked upwards, sadness and raw emotion swirling in the emerald green pools. “I know we said we'd stay in our own rooms tonight, Cas, but I- I don’t think I can. C- Can I sleep here?”

Cas’ frown deepened as he opened the door wider and let Dean walk passed him into the door, and closed the door behind him. “What’s wrong, Dean?”

Dean hung his head once again. Castiel pursed his lips behind him as he stepped up close to Dean and wrapped his arms around his torso, sliding his head onto his shoulder.  Dean arched into the touch, his neck bared as he tilted his head back to get closer to Cas. He was trembling slightly, his fingers fumbling as he brought them up to Cas’ hands and intertwined them in Cas’.

“What’s _not_ wrong is the question you should be asking, and the answer is not much.” Dean mumbled, his voice rough with both tears and the whiskey he’d drank before coming to Cas’ room.

“Well then, what caused you to become upset and come see me?” Castiel asked, his tone gentle.

Dean let out a shaky breath.

“I’m worthless.” He whispered.

Castiel frowned in surprise, before grabbing Dean’s hips and turning him around, so that they were chest to chest; Castiel’s bare skin against Dean’s threadbare Led Zeppelin t-shirt.

“Don’t you dare say that, Dean Winchester.” Castiel ordered, their faces so close that their noses bumped together. “Don’t you _dare.”_ His voice sounded alien in the silent room; like a stone being thrown onto a clear lake.

Dean moved his head so that he and Cas were cheek to cheek, his breathing ragged, as he wrapped his arms around Cas. “Why not? It’s true. Sammy doesn’t need me anymore. The show might not be renewed for next season. I’ve screwed our friendship so many times I’ve lost count, and there’s so many other things that I’m not even gonna mention because if I said them all we’d be here until March.”

“What has brought this on?”

“Just a- nothing. I just get lost to my thoughts sometimes.” Dean sighed.

“I wish you’d see your own worth, Dean,” Cas pulled his head back and placed a finger underneath Dean’s chin, tilting it upwards. “The things you do, and the person you are… it astounds me that you don’t believe that you’re a good egg.”

“A good egg?” Dean choked around a snort of laughter.

Cas frowned. “Is that not the right phrase?”

Dean’s body was shaking with laughter, his head tipped backwards. “I can’t believe you just called me a good egg, Cas.”

“I heard Gabriel say it once-”

“You were doing so well with your inspirational pep talk, too.” Dean exclaimed. “And then you- you called me a good egg!”

“Well the point still stands.” Cas huffed.

“Thanks, Cas.” Dean snickered, still laughing at the fact he’d just been called a good egg; as if he were on some sort of after-school special.

“You are the most selfless person I know, Dean. Even if you can’t look after Sam like you did when you were kids, even if anything, it’s going to be okay. And if the show does get cancelled, then we’ll move on. It’s not the only TV show in the world, even though we love it as though it is.”

“We?”

Cas hummed against Dean’s neck. “Yes. We, as in, you and me, us, together, _we._ I know you’re adamant that you’re inevitably going to ruin this relationship, Dean, but I, unlike you, have a little faith.”

“So what, I’m Thelma and you’re Louise and we’re just gonna hold hands and drive off this cliff together?”

Cas snorted. “You’re such a drama queen.”

Dean shrugged.  “Can we go to bed now?”

“Well, I prefer to be wined and dined firs-”

“Shut up.”

Cas grinned and pulled away from him, but linked their hands together and tugged him towards the bed. “Just so you know, my bed has a strict no pants policy.”

“Oh, really?” Dean grinned. He felt himself wanting to pull Cas in once again, to feel their chests touch and his breath against his neck. _Oh god. I’m one of those needy types,_ Dean realised.

Cas hummed and let go of Dean’s hand, before sliding his arms underneath Dean’s t-shirt and sliding it up over his head.

“Where’s that scar from?” Cas asked, pointing to a white line across Dean’s ribcage.

“Jumped off a shed, thinking I could fly.” Dean grinned, but it soon turned into a frown. “Sam copied me, he broke his arm. I had to take him to the ER on my bike handlebars. My dad was so mad. I felt so guilty afterwards, but y’know, it was just one of the times Sammy got hurt ‘cause of me.”

“It wasn’t your fault, Dean.” Cas said, placing his hands on Dean’s chest and pressing him down onto the bed, before kneeling between his legs. “Kids get hurt all the time.”

“What about the time I left him alone and he ran away and almost got mugged? That was my fault.” Dean grumbled.

“Dean, stop it. Sam loves you, and you were an amazing brother to him, and you still are. He turned out amazingly.”

“You’re going to leave me for my brother, aren’t you.” Dean teased, and Castiel stuck out his tongue at him.

Cas hooked his hands into the waistband of Dean’s pants and pulled them down his legs, revealing cowboy patterned underwear, which Castiel raised an eyebrow at.

“Sam was right, you do have a cowboy fetish.” Cas snorted, making Dean blush and frown.

“Fuckin’ Sammy. I’m gonna hit him the next time I see him.” Dean grumbled.

“You could always get him back by telling people about the time Sam went to Bela’s niece’s party and had to leave five minutes after he got there because there was a clown there.”

“Are you serious?” Dean guffawed, laughter raking through his body. “How do you know that?”

Cas shrugged as he slid from where he was sat to lie down in the bed next to Dean, pulling the bed sheet up to cover them.. “I hear things.”

Dean narrowed his eyes. “You’re a mind reader, aren’t you?”

 _If you can read my mind, cough twice,_ Dean thought.

Cas coughed twice, causing Dean to jerk away from him and almost fall off the bed. “Yo- Wha- I, You, what?”

Cas burst into laughter. “I’m not really, Dean. I just knew you’d think that.”

“Sounds like something a mind reader would say.” Dean muttered.

“Go to sleep, you assbutt.”

Dean grinned in the darkness of the room. “I remember you called me that the first time we met.” He said. “I thought it was the stupidest insult I’d ever heard, but y’know, it might be growin’ on me.”

“No, that’s just my irresistible charm and wit.” Cas replied smoothly, with a perfect poker face. Dean could see right through it, anyway.

Dean slid his arms around Cas and pulled the smaller man to his chest, and intertwined their legs. Cas burrowed his head in the gap between Dean’s neck and shoulder with a content sigh, sliding his hand up to rest on Dean’s chest.

They didn’t say anything else. They didn’t need to.

★               ★                ★

The next morning, Dean awoke ridiculously early; the sun trickling in through a crack in the curtains. Cas was asleep still, his breath coming in small puffs against Dean’s cheek, his arms and legs wrapped around Dean as though he was scared of letting go.

It suddenly hit Dean like a freight train, no uncertainty or questioning, just the deep, resounding knowledge.

Dean loved Cas.

The realisation was much less life changing than he’d thought it would be. There were no birds chirping, or choirs singing or sonnets composing themselves in his mind. There wasn’t even a romantic quote he could use if he were to ever write a book about his and Cas’ relationship. If anything; Dean hadn’t fallen in love easily, or poetically, or beautifully. No, if he had to compare it to anything, he’d compare how he fell in love to how someone would fall down stairs; fast and ungraceful. 

It didn’t feel like he’d pictured it, either. Instead of feeling trapped or smothered; it felt more like a cliffhanger- a promise of things to come. Fuckin’ awesome things.

Dean looked at the sleeping man next to him, his eyelashes sweeping against his cheeks like crescent moons and his hair even more mussed up than it was usually, and Dean felt certain that wherever he was going, he was on the right path.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> confession; I was literally so sleep deprived writing some of this that I accidentally wrote 'Castiel rolled his eyebrows' and proceeded to laugh for ages. I need to sleep more.
> 
> * some parts of the panel are based on cockles, especially [this gif lmao](http://31.media.tumblr.com/626f45c6cafde85422813e00ae7a2ed6/tumblr_ms0dneBsHd1qalw3xo2_500.gif)
> 
> as you can see, im cockles trash goodbye


	18. Chapter 18

When Dean woke up it was still dark outside; which was the first thing that clued him in on the fact something wasn’t right. The second thing was the heavy weight of someone climbing into bed with him; too heavy to be Cas.

Dean felt someone bury their head into his chest, and Dean looked down to see Sam, crying into his grey t-shirt. It physically hurt Dean to see his brother in so much pain.

“Sammy?” Dean choked out, pushing away his thoughts. It was obvious his little brother needed him right now; reminding him so much of how when they were little they used to share a bed when one of them was upset.

Sam sniffed a few times, before using a hand to wipe one of his cheeks. “Bela called off the wedding.”

Dean froze, eyes wide. “What the fuck?”

Sam shook his head, shrugging his over grown shoulders. Dean wrapped an arm around his shoulder, clasping tightly.

“She’s gone, Dean.” Sam sighed. “Am I really that terrible?”

“Don’t be stupid, Sammy. She’s the stupid one, obviously. She’s a lying, conniving bitch, okay?”

“She said I’d be happier with Jess.” Sam sniffed. “And she said she’s grown, that she needs to move to Hollywood.”

“Hollywood?”

“I think th-there’s someone else.”

“I could fucking kill her.” Dean snarled, his hands itching to punch something. “I fucking swear to God, if it wasn’t illegal I’d go to Hollywood and shoot her.”

“Just don’t do it in public.” Sam said, before brushing his cheeks one again.

They were silent for a few moments.

“So, Jess, eh?” Dean smirked.

Sam turned his head away so Dean wouldn’t see his blush. “Shut up, jerk.”

“No judgement, dude. Jess is a million times better for you than that British bitch. Hotter, too.” Dean winked, even though Sam wasn’t looking at him.

“Dean, my fiancée left me three hours ago, and you already want me to move on?”

“Why shouldn’t you move on? Bela has.”

“Thanks for the reminder.” Sam replied dryly. “We should go out tonight.”

“Wow, dude, thanks for the offer but I’m with Cas and incest isn’t really my thing.”

Sam froze, before jerking up and spinning around so fast he was almost a blur. “ _You’re with Cas?”_

Dean groaned to himself, placing his hands over his eyes. _I have such a big mouth,_ he thought to himself.

“That’s so cool!” Sam exclaimed, looking like an excited puppy. “Since when? Do you love him?”

Dean blinked in confusion at his brother. “D- don’t you care that he’s a guy?”

Sam gave him a ‘ _are you serious right now?_ ’ bitch face. “Why the hell would that matter at all?”

“Oh.” Dean frowned. “Just keep it a secret for now, okay?”

Sam frowned disapprovingly. “Dean! Are you ashamed of him or something?”

“Of course not!” Dean sighed. “I have a contract with my publicist. No new relationship after Carmen for at least five months, or I get sued into next week.”

Sam paused for a moment, before breaking into a huge grin and enveloping Dean in a big hug. “’m so happy for you, Dean. Cas is perfect.”

Dean grinned, hugging Sam in return. “Yeah.” Dean sighed affectionately. “He is.”

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

  
★               ★                ★

 

 A week after Bela left, Sam returned to set. It was just his luck that the first person he saw was his high school sweetheart. She was talking to Gabriel outside of one of the set buildings, the sun shining down on her golden blonde hair making it look like a curly halo. Her back was to him, but he didn’t have to see her properly to know she was beautiful.

Even though Sam wasn’t able to see her face, he could picture it in his mind; the freckle in between her eyebrows, her long eyelashes, her blue-grey eyes. Sam hadn’t realised how much he’d missed her.

Before he even realised what he was doing, he was striding towards Jess and Gabriel with a determined look on his face.

Gabriel spotted him first, and his face went from surprised, to pity, to happy, then excited; a big grin on his face. “Samsquatch! You’re back!” Gabriel exclaimed, dashing around Jess to launch himself at Sam, wrapping him in a koala bear hug. “I swear, if I see Bela ever again I’ll bitch slap the bitch.” Gabriel swore as he pulled himself away. Behind him, Jess had turned around and was now staring at Sam with a wistful look on her face.

“Sam.” She smiled, her face lightening visibly.

“Hi, Jess.” Sam said, hesitating slightly before stepping around Gabriel and pulling her into a tight hug.

“It’s been a long time.” Jess commented once they’d separated. “How’ve you been?”                          

“Well, I got a part in a TV show, got engaged, got a dog, then my fiancée left me, so y’know, can’t complain.” Sam grinned, flashing his dimples. Jess giggled, running a hand through her curly hair. “What about you?”

“Well, I went to Stanford, I was on the path to become a nurse before I decided I wanted to be a writer instead.”

“Well, I’m glad that you changed your mind, otherwise you wouldn’t be working here now.” Sam replied smoothly. “Just make sure you write me some good lines, okay?”

Jess laughed, nodding. “Of course, but if you piss me off I might kill your character, so watch out.” She winked.

“I guess I’ll have to be extra nice to you, huh?” Sam said. Before Jess could answer, Gabriel was standing between them making gagging noises.

“God, you two are more flirty flirty than Dean and Cas, jeez!” Gabriel exclaimed. “You two make me sick.”

Sam and Jess both ignored him, and Sam cocked his head to the side curiously, looking like a gigantic puppy. “You gotta work right now?”

“Nope. I just came in to talk to the director about something.” Jess grinned, knowing what was going to happen next.

“Well, I’ve got some scenes to do in about two hours, but maybe you could come save me from boredom while I go to hair and make-up.” Sam asked hopefully.

Jess’ grin doubled in size, before nodding enthusiastically. “I’d like that.”

“Disgusting.” Gabriel muttered in the background. 

  
  


★               ★                ★

 

 

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

The weeks passed by quickly, in between various pranks on set, movie nights and even one weekend LARPing with Charlie, the saying ‘ _time flies when you’re having fun’_ proved itself to be true.

On March Third, Dean was panicking.

“Dean, will you _stop?”_ Charlie groaned, throwing a peanut at his head. “Cas is going to love it, okay? Stop worrying.”

“What if he’s guessed we’re throwing this party for him?” Dean replied. “I bet Gabriel told him, or Claire.” He toyed with the banner in his hands, wondering if it was too much, anyway. What if Cas didn’t even _want_ a party for his birthday?

“Dean, you know Cas has no idea, now stop whining and help me set up this shindig.” Charlie tossed a bag of popcorn to where Sam was leant against the sink.

“You’re cruising to get uninvited, Bradbury.” Dean growled, putting the banner down on the counter. “I feel bad for pretending we forgot his birthday.” He admitted.

“He thinks everyone forgot his birthday!” Charlie replied around a mouthful of chips.

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“Dean, it’ll be worth it once he sees that you haven’t actually forgotten.” Sam told him as he poured the popcorn into several bowls and placed them on the kitchen island.

“Whatever.” Dean sighed. “What time is everyone getting here?”

“A half hour.” Charlie said. “You should probably go and get Cas.”

Dean pursed his lips.

“What’s the problem _now_ , Debbie downer?” Charlie groaned.

“Do you think he’ll like my gift?” Dean asked, thinking about the present he’d gotten Cas while shopping with Charlie the other day.

Sam and Charlie shared a pained look.

Okay, maybe Dean had asked them that a few times that day. He just wanted to make sure Cas had a good birthday.

Charlie threw another peanut at his head. “Get out, Dean.”

“Why am I friends with you?” Dean muttered to himself as he walked out of the door, with Charlie calling _‘because I’m awesome!’_ behind him.

Twenty minutes later, he walked into Cas’ house.

“ _Caaaas_?” Dean called when he walked in, closing the door behind him. He was met with silence, but he knew that Cas was at home because his car was outside, so Dean walked up to his bedroom. He knew Cas was probably just angry because he thought that everyone had forgotten his birthday.

“Cas?” Dean knocked on Cas’ door, but he was once again met with silence. “Are you in there, Cas?” He called. “If you don’t answer in three seconds I’m coming in anyway.”

There was no reply.

Dean opened the door, revealing the sight of Cas strewn across his bed, blanket clutched in his hands, fast asleep; even though it was past seven pm.

Dean walked over, sliding his leather jacket off in the process, and climbed onto the bed beside Cas. He watched him for a moment, the way his chest raised and fell softly and how tightly his fingers were wrapped around the blanket.

Dean raised his hand and ran it gently through Cas’ dishevelled hair, making him groan in his sleep, but not wake. Dean bent down and pressed a chaste kiss onto the skin of Cas forehead that was revealed when Dean pushed his hair backwards.

“Cas, baby, you need to wake up.” Dean said, moving his hand from Cas’ hair to cradle his face; which was rough with stubble. Apparently, Dmitri had a five o’clock shadow, these days, so Cas wasn’t allowed to shave.

Cas groaned once again, his eyelids fluttering. “Love you,” He said.

“Telling me you love me while sleeping?” Dean chuckled. “Way to be cliché, buddy.”

Cas’ eyelids fluttered open, bleary with sleep and confusion. “Dean?”

Dean grinned, taking his hand from Cas’ face. “Hey, angel.”

“Don’t call me angel,” Cas muttered, moving to a sitting position as he used one hand to rub his eyes and the other to place the blanket in his lap. “You big sap.”

“How about babycakes? Blue eyes? Casanova?”

“You’re like Gabriel with the nicknames now.” Cas replied.

“They’re not _nicknames_ , Cas, they’re _pet_ names.”

Cas frowned. “I’m not your pet. You have a pet. Its name is also Cas, so it seems like you missed out on a good opportunity for a pet name.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Anyway, you need to come to my place.”

“Why?” Castiel looked suspicious, albeit a little hopeful.

“I, uh- I need your help to run lines.” Dean replied quickly, hoping it sounded convincing enough. Cas’ face dropped, making him look slightly like a kicked puppy. “Cas misses you, too.”

“Oh.” Cas averted his eyes away, clutching his blanket to his chest. “Okay.”

Dean felt a pang in his chest, but he pushed it away. It would be worth it once Cas saw he was getting a surprise party, or Dean hoped so, anyway.

Cas got up from the bed, and decided that he didn’t need to change from his black skinny jeans and t-shirt, instead opting to put on his bumblebee sweater on top. Dean smiled at it, walking over to Cas and running his hand down his chest, feeling the soft fabric of the sweater beneath his fingers.

Cas sighed and stepped away.

“Cas-” Dean reached out, but Cas walked further away.

“No, Dean.”

“What’s wrong?” Dean asked him, even though it was a stupid question. Dean knew exactly what was wrong with him.

“You- you-” Cas sighed once again. “Never mind.”

Dean tried to step forward once again, but Cas had already disappeared out of the room. Dean dejectedly put his jacket back on and followed him.

In the car, Cas’ silence was cold. Even though Led Zeppelin was echoing out of the speakers, Dean felt as though all he could hear was Castiel’s breathing, and the empty space between them was vast.

God, Dean couldn’t wait for Cas to figure out what was happening, he couldn’t handle the cold shoulder for much longer.

When they got to Dean’s house, Dean subtly texted Charlie and asked her for the green light to go in.

“Dean?” Cas asked with a frown. “Why are we not getting out of the car?”

“Uh-” Dean paused. He couldn’t think of a good answer.

“What’s going on, Dean?” Cas looked worried.

Suddenly, Dean felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and thanked the lord that he didn’t have to carry on this charade for much longer.

“Nothin’, Cas!” Dean assured him, before getting out of the car. “C’mon. Little Cas missed ya’.”

“You could always allow him to live with me.”

“Yeah, but then he’d miss _me_!” Dean countered jokingly. “Maybe you should move in here then we’d all be happy.”

Cas froze on his way to the door. “What?”

Dean hadn’t even realised what he’d said, and his cheeks flushed darkly. “I- uh, never mind. C’mon, let’s go in.”

Cas frowned at Dean for a second, before shrugging slightly and turning towards the door. Dean darted around him, to make sure he got there before Cas, and opened the door. The inside was dark and silent as they both stepped in. Once the door closed behind them, there was a slight pause before the house erupted with noise and light.

_“Surprise!”_

In front of them stood only their closest friends; Charlie, Sam, Gabriel, Claire, Nicole, Balthazar and of course, Jess. Sam had refused to go if she hadn’t been invited, not that Dean minded that she was going. It gave him the perfect opportunity to rib Sam about his ‘new girlfriend’.

Dean wasn’t looking at his friends, though. His eyes were trained on Cas’ face, eagerly awaiting his reaction. For a moment, Cas had been shocked as he saw everyone stood in front of him, wonky party hats on their heads, but a few seconds later his eyes were filling with tears.

“Wow, buddy!” Dean said, placing his hand on Cas’ shoulder, pulling him in closer slightly, being mindful of the fact that most of their friends didn’t know the nature of his and Cas’ relationship. “What’s with the water works?”

Cas blinked his teary eyes at Dean, before throwing his arms around him in a tight hug. “I thought you forgot! I’m sorry!” Cas wailed into Dean’s neck.

Dean patted Cas on the back with a chuckle. “I pretend to forget your birthday and _you’re_ the one that’s sorry?”

Cas pulled away from Dean, put kept one hand clutching at Dean’s forearm. “I was mean to you and all you did was make me a party!”

“Cas, it’s okay.” Dean smiled at his boyfriend, resisting the urge to run a hand down the man’s face. “I’m just glad that you didn’t figure out the surprise.”

“If you two have finished over there,” Charlie called with a smirk, “Then can we get this party started?”

Cas smiled and walked towards Charlie, and pulled her into a hug too.

“C’mon Casanova, there’s some shots in the kitchen with your name on them.” Charlie winked, grabbing Cas’ hand and tugging him in to the other room, Gabriel following behind like an excited puppy at the mention of shots.

“Hey, Dean?” Claire suddenly called, walking over to Dean.

“Yeah?”

“Can we talk for a minute?” She asked, looking sly.

Dean narrowed his eyes playfully. “You’re gonna give me the _if you hurt my brother speech_ aren’t you?”

Claire grinned. “You betcha, Hasselhoff”

 

★               ★                ★

An hour and a half later, Castiel was drunk. Not tipsy drunk; _drunk_ drunk; and it was all Charlie and Gabriel’s fault.

Cas also suspected that the brownies Balthazar brought weren’t wholly innocent, either.

“Where’s Deaaaan?” Cas whined. He was sat on the back porch with Charlie and Gabriel, an empty plate sat between them that used to hold a pile of brownies.

Charlie giggled, shoving Cas’ shoulder. “He’s _your_ boyfriend, you tell me!”

Cas pouted. “I’d know where he was if you hadn’t dragged me out here.” He replied, folding his arms across his chest, distorting the bumblebee on the front of his sweater. “Where’s Cas?”

Charlie and Gabriel shared a look. “You’re Cas, sweetie.” Charlie said, tapping his knee as if he were a child.

“No, little Cas!”

Gabriel snorted. “Little Cas is in your pants and he’s staying there, kiddo.”

Castiel jumped up from where he was sitting with wide eyes, quickly fumbling with the button on his jeans. “Oh no! He might be _suffocating!”_

Cas opened his pants, revealing the fact he was in fact not wearing any underwear, before lifting his head to shoot daggers at Gabriel. “He’s not in my pants, you liar!.”

Charlie and Gabriel didn’t reply, instead staring at Cas with wide eyes.

Of course, Dean chose that moment to step out onto the porch. “Cas!” He exclaimed. “What the hell are you doing?”

Cas jumped at the sound of Dean’s voice before grinning and dashing over to him and pulling him into a hug once again, pants still open. “Dean! I was so worried. I lost you, and then I lost little Cas, but Gabriel told me that little Cas was in my pants-”

Dean chuckled softly, before reaching down and buttoning Cas’ pants back up. “Little Cas is playing with Claire.” He paused. “That’s a weird sentence to say. Maybe we should re-consider the name of our dog, huh?”

Cas nodded into Dean’s neck, refusing to let go of him. “Dean,” Cas suddenly giggled. “I wanna tell you a secret.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “What secret?”

“I like it when you,” Cas whispered. He paused, allowing Dean to guess what he was going to say before continuing. “Call me angel.”

“I know you do.” Dean chuckled. “Now c’mon, angel, let’s get you to bed.”

“No! I don’t wanna go to bed, Dean!” Cas pouted. “I can’t be the first to leave at my own party!”

“Cas-”

"You're so cute," Cas said with a smile. "I think I'm in love with you."

Dean shot a panicked look to Gabriel and Charlie, but neither looked shocked at the admission. Dean couldn’t tell if that was because they weren’t surprised or they were just too high to process it.

“Dean, if you call me angel, then what can I call _you_?” Cas trucked on, oblivious to the blush that was creeping onto Dean’s cheeks.  “Handsome? Jelly bean? Freckles?”

Cas was frowning in thought, and Dean took the opportunity to put his arm around Cas’ waist and guide him back indoors. “Dean, what did I tell you?” Cas whined. “I don’t wanna go to bed  if everyone else is still awake.”

“How about we just go hang out in my room, then?” Dean asked, knowing full well that Cas would pass out the second he got into bed. “I’ll give you your birthday present.”

Cas jerked upwards, interested. “Is it a blow job?”

“Is what a blow job?” Sam asked; Dean hadn’t even noticed that he and Jess were in the same room as them.

“Dean’s going to give me a birthday blow job!” Cas announced proudly. “I have the best boyfriend.” Cas leant forward and pressed a kiss to Dean’s flaming cheek.

“Actually, Cas-”

Cas ignored him, instead pulling away from Dean and walking over to Sam. “Did you know that you brother gives good blow jobs, Sam? And I could just ride him all night-”

“Okay, Calamity Jane, let’s go,” Dean said, grabbing Cas around the waist and pulling him backwards before he could say anything else.

“But I didn’t even tell him about the thing with the-”

Dean slammed a hand across Cas’ mouth. 

“Sammy, could you please get everyone to leave? I think party boy here is ready for bed, and I don’t want you stragglers here all night.” Dean asked. He expected Sam to say no, but instead he winked at Jess and quickly agreed.

It seems like Dean and Cas weren’t going to be the only ones having a sleepover that night, Dean realised.

“C’mon, Cas.” Dean once again guided Cas and they actually made it all the way to Dean’s bedroom before Cas began to protest.

“I didn’t even get to find little Cas!” He cried, sitting on the edge of Dean’s bed.

“I’ll make a deal with you, angel.” Dean said, bending down to pull of Cas’ shoes. “I’ll go and get little Cas and he can sleep in bed with you, if you promise to go to sleep, ‘kay?”

“Okay.” Cas mumbled, sounding sleepy.

With a smile, Dean went downstairs to collect his puppy and kicked everyone out. Gabriel, of course, protested, but Charlie lured him out with the offer of going to the nearest strip club, because the ‘night was still young’, and she wanted to see some strippers.

When Dean got back upstairs, to his surprise, Cas was still awake, tucked under the covers.

“Gimme!” Cas shouted, reaching out his arms for little Cas. The puppy wiggled in Dean’s arms, before jumping out of them and running over to Cas and licking his cheek.

Dean watched Cas play with little Cas as he changed into a pair of pyjama pants, before climbing into bed beside Cas.

“I love you, Cas.” Dean said.

Cas turned to him with wide eyes.

“I meant the puppy.” Dean winked, reaching his hand to scratch the dog’s ear.

Cas pouted. “You can kiss the puppy from now on, instead of me.” He said.

“I guess I like you a little.” Dean said, sliding his left arm around Cas and using the other to stroke the dog.

“I know.” Cas grinned. "Where's my present?"

"I knew you were only using me for my gifts." Dean teased, before reaching into the bedside table and pulling out a small box. 

"What is it?" Cas frowned, reaching for it. 

"Open it and find out." 

Cas opened it slowly, revealing the bracelet inside. It was brown leather, braided together, and on the end there was a silver charm. On closer inspection, one side of the charm read ' _always with you_ ' and on  the other side, there was an angel.

Cas opened the clasp and slid it on, a big grin on his face, before leaning in to press a chaste kiss to Dean's lips.

"Thank you, Dean."

"Now you match me!" Dean told him, raising his right hand where there was an almost identical bracelet sitting on his wrist.

Cas smiled sleepily, before mumbling: "Match made in heaven."

Before Dean could ask what he meant, Cas was asleep.

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

Lucifer was fuming, his eyes stormy and cold. “I told you not to make it obvious that you were working for me. How is _moving to Hollywood_ not being obvious?”

Bela raised an eyebrow defiantly. “I got you the info and pictures, what does it matter?”

“Do you think Castiel will want to come with me if he knows I’m doing this?” Lucifer snapped. “God, you’re so fucking stupid. Your sister better pick up your slack, or you’re going to be in deep shit, Bela.”

Bela rolled her eyes. “Don’t be melodramatic. Now, where’s my money?”

“Why do you even need it?” Lucifer smirked. “It’s not like you have a wedding to pay for, anymore.”

“Don't bring that up.” Bela snapped. "You know why I did this."

“Poor Sammy Winchester.” Lucifer cooed. “Why bother leading him on to begin with?”

Bela smiled coldly. “I’m not the relationship type, you know that.” She lied.

“You’re a bitch, you know that?”

“You have to be a bitch to survive, Lucifer, so about that payment?”

“I’m sorry, hun.” Lucifer grinned, looking like a shark. Bela frowned in confusion. “You don’t get paid for favours.”

“But you said-” Bela protested, but was cut off by Lucifer making a tsk noise.

“How _cute_! You should know by now not to trust anyone, sweetheart.” Lucifer paused. “However, if you and your sister make sure Castiel will come with me after this season of Not Natural is over, I’ll pay you.”

Bela folded her arms across her chest. “And how do you suggest we do that?”

“Keep Castiel away from Winchester. If you don’t, I’ll take matters into my own hands. Once I make sure the show is cancelled, and Castiel has no reason to stay in Vancouver, he’ll practically beg me to bring him to Hollywood, I’m sure of it.” Lucifer smiled wistfully.

“What’s the big deal, anyway? Why are you so obsessed with him going with you?”

“The _power_ , love. The fame, the money. Need I go on?”

Bela pursed her lips. “Seems like a lot of effort, for something you have already.”

“Did I ask for your opinion?” Lucifer snapped. “Just do what you’re supposed to, or you’ll regret it. Do I make myself clear?”

Bela nodded.

  
★               ★                ★

 

  
★               ★                ★

 

Dean and Cas sat pressed together, their ankles linked, shoulders brushing. A redhead woman and a bald man were sitting across the table from them, notebooks and tape recorders scattered across the wooden surface.

“We’re so glad that you could join us here today, guys.” The woman said with a big smile. “My name is Sophie, and this is Will, and we’re so ecstatic to be interviewing you two!”

Dean and Cas shared a warm look.

“We’re happy to be here.” Cas replied.

“So, we have a set of questions some fans wrote into us, just answer them as normally as you can. You don’t need to pretend, here!” Will told them, leaning forward to switch on the tape recorders.

Sophie picked up one of the notebooks. “The first question is how hard is it to transition from romantic couple on TV to friends in real life?”

Dean nudged Cas’ leg with his own, a sly smirk on his face. “Well, y’know, we’re actors, so it’s our job to do that.” Dean shrugged. “I mean, you wouldn’t ask a person playing a character with cancer if it was hard for them not to get cancer in real life too, would you?”

“It also helps that we’re such good friends in real life, too.” Cas added, wanting to make sure that the interviewers didn’t take Dean’s humour as them being mean. “It would be much harder if we hated each other outside of the set.”

“Hm, yes.” Sophie said with a shark-like grin. “Friends.”

“What Sophie is trying to say is that there’s been a lot of speculation with your friendship.” Will hesitated before continuing. “There’ve been a lot of rumours about you two, as you probably know. A lot of people want to see destiel together.”

“Destiel?” Dean asked, with the perfect amount of fake-confusion.

“The portmanteau of yours and Castiel’s name! Didn’t you know?” Sophie gasped with wide eyes, unsure of whether she should believe Dean or not. He was an actor, after all.

“I didn’t know we had a portmanteau,” Dean replied, “But I did know about the rumours. They’re kinda hard to avoid, sometimes.” He chuckled.

“So that’s it, then?” Sophie asked dejectedly. “Just rumours?”

Dean had to bite his tongue not to look at Cas, or reply with the truth.

“Well, the rumour about me burning my eyebrows off once is true.” Dean smirked.

Sophie and Will shared a look.

“On to the next question, then…” Will said. “There’s been some controversy about Not Natural this season, and some say it might be cancelled. Do you know anything about it?”

“I’ve heard that there is a possibility of that happening, but we know nothing for sure.” Cas told him, and Dean nodded in agreement.

“What will the two of you do, if it gets cancelled? Will there be new TV shows on the cards, or maybe something else?”

“Well, you never know with this business.” Dean rubbed his jaw in thought. “I’ve always wanted to go on a roadtrip, so who knows? I might do that, I might carry on acting, I dunno. I only started acting because of Sammy, y’know? I love to do it, but I don’t know if it’s a permanent thing.”

Sophie nodded. “What about you, Cas?”

“I’m not sure.” He frowned. “I don’t have any set plans, I like to go with the flow, as the saying goes.”

“So, what would you two be if you weren’t actors?” Sophie asked.

Dean didn’t even have to think about his reply. “I love cars, man. I’d be a classic car restorer, or somethin’. Or maybe a pie maker.” He paused. “Even though I’d probably end up eating all the merchandise.” He chuckled.

“I’d probably be a doctor, seeing as that’s what I was in college for before joining Not Natural.” Cas hummed. “But I’m not sure if I ever wanted to do that. Maybe I’d be a bee-keeper.” He admitted with complete honesty.

Sophie tilted her head. “That’s so cute, Castiel!”

“Now, what about your futures? Where do you two see yourselves in five, ten years? Married, with kids, with three Oscars and living in a Mansion?” Will questioned, as both he and Sophie leaned forward earnestly, as though they expected a shocking answer.

“I-uh,” Dean rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t want to admit how quickly the answer had come to his head, or what the answer had been, how he wanted to be with Cas, screw the Oscars or living in a mansion. He’d live in a tent if he had to, as long as Cas was there.  Of course, Dean wasn’t going to say that to the interviewers. “Happy, I guess. I dunno how, or when, I just know that I want to be happy. Maybe living in some cute house somewhere, with a garage for my baby and a big garden, y’know, for the puppy.”

“Hey! Who says you get to keep the puppy?” Cas protested.

Dean groaned. “Cas, we’ve had this conversation so many times, the puppy is _mine_.” Dean replied, even though both men knew fully well that the puppy was both of theirs; however, if they admitted that, it might seem like they were together.

“You two argue like an old married couple.” Sophie cooed. “What about you, Castiel? Where do you see yourself in the future?”

“Well, like Dean, happy is the main goal. Kids would be nice, too, but not an obligation. I’d also like a big garden, or maybe a house near the Ocean, or a lake.” Cas pursed his lips in thought. “Maybe I’ll write a book.”

“Sounds like you two will have a nice future,” Sophie grinned, the word _together_ going unspoken, but heard by all of them.

Dean and Cas shared a look.

Dean grinned, nudging Cas’ leg once again. “Yeah, we will.”

Dean and Cas were too invested in each other to notice the excited smile on Sophie and Will’s faces.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cas' birthday present is based on the bracelet jensen apparently gave misha.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two chapters in one day? It's a miracle!  
> also, I'm getting v emotional seeing as there's only two chapters left. It's like seeing my baby packing for college!

 

When Cas woke up, the bed was empty, but from somewhere he could hear the sound of Dean yelling and cursing. With wide eyes, Cas quickly got out of bed, scanning the room for an appropriate weapon. He’d heard a lot of spook stories about stalkers or serial killers that focused on celebrities, so of course, his mind automatically guessed that Dean was in some sort of trouble. Cas decided to rummage silently in the closet and pulled out Dean’s wooden sword that he used for LARPing sometimes, deciding that it would do good damage to any murderers or thieves downstairs.

Little Cas, was running between Castiel’s ankles, so he decided to pick him up with his left arm, holding the sword in his right. Little Cas was actually now named Impala to get rid of any confusion between him and the real Cas. Dean had refused to name him anything else, claiming the puppy had to be named after one of the three things he loved the most, his car, his brother, or his boyfriend. They had considered naming him Sam for a while, but Dean had vetoed that in the end, stating that the real Sam was enough like a puppy, anyway; they didn’t need another one.

“Don’t lick me, daddy has to go and protect your other daddy right now.” Cas told the puppy when he began to lick Cas’ face enthusiastically. Impala whined, but listened anyway. “Remember what Dean taught you? If I tell you to bite someone then you do it.” Cas frowned slightly. “Although, that’s not very good advice. You should probably only do it in self-defence.”

Impala cocked his head at Cas as another round of yelling erupted from downstairs.

Gripping the sword tightly in his hand, Cas crept down the stairs, following the sound of Dean’s voice and he soon realised the noise was coming from the living room.

However, there was no stalker or serial killer trying to duel with Dean.

“Dora! Are you blind?” Dean exclaimed, gesturing wildly at the TV. “Swiper is right there! Stop messing about with your talking backpack!”

Cas frowned. Dean was sitting on the couch, his back to Cas, and he was yelling at a cartoon on the TV. Cas recognised it as a children’s show, but didn’t know what it was exactly.

“Having fun there, Dean?” Cas asked, lips twitching in an attempt to hold in the laughter threatening to burst out.

Dean jerked almost a foot from where he’d been sitting, before turning to Cas with a startled look on his face, his cheeks bright red.

On the screen, Swiper had stolen one of Dora’s things and Dora was trying to look for him in the jungle. It wasn’t going too well.

Dean rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, expecting Cas to start judging him any moment now, until he realised what Cas had in his arms; a sword and Impala. 

“Uh- I can explain?” Dean offered.                              

Impala barked as Cas walked over to the couch and sat beside Dean, an amused look on his face. The dog climbed out of Cas’ arms and ran over to Dean, climbing onto his chest and licking his nose.

“Is this a children’s television show, Dean?” Castiel’s eyes flicked between Dean and the TV, where Dora was pointing to a bush.

“ _Can you tell me where Swiper is_?” Dora asked, an expectant look on her face.

Cas frowned. “Is she asking us where he is? He’s right there behind that bush!” He exclaimed, and Dean chuckled beside him.

“Tell me about it.” Dean snorted. “She’s always askin’ for help, can’t do anything herself.”

Castiel watched Dora for a moment, who was looking in the jungle for Swiper. “How is she allowed to travel through the jungle without her parents?” Cas asked, eyebrows drawn together.

“Maybe she’s one of those Benjamin Button types.” Dean suggested.                      

Cas nodded, even though he didn’t really know who Benjamin Button was. “What time are we going to Sam’s today?” He asked Dean after a few moments of watching Dora.

“Are you seriously not gonna ask me why I’m watching Dora the Explorer?” Dean looked bewildered.

“Do you want me to?”

Dean was silent for a moment. “We’re going to Sammy’s at twelve, I need to bake him his birthday pie first, though.” Dean’s eyes suddenly widened. “I didn’t wrap his present!”

Dean began to rise off of the couch, but Cas pulled him back downwards. “Relax. I did it last night when you fell asleep watching Dr Sexy.

 “Oh, okay.” Dean blinked, before relaxing back into the couch cushions and smiling at Cas. “Thanks, Cas.”

“You still need to write his card, though.” Cas said, reaching for the coffee table and pulling the card out of the drawer inside of it, along with a pen. He handed them to Dean. “Here.”

“Turn around, Cas.” Dean said, grabbing the card and the pen. Cas looked confused but did so anyway, and a few seconds later he felt something on his back.

“Dean?” Cas frowned. “Are you using me to lean on?”

“Shhh, tables don’t talk.”

Cas jabbed Dean in the ribs, earning a yelp from him.

“Hey!” Dean frowned at the card. “Now it says happy birthday Sax.”

Cas huffed. “I don’t understand why you’re using me as a table when there’s a perfectly good one right there-”

“Yeah, but that one doesn’t feel as nice as you do.”

Cas didn’t have to turn around to know that Dean was winking.

A few seconds later, Dean pulled away, showing Cas the little caricature he’d drawn inside of it; a picture of a Sam/giraffe hybrid.

“Here,” Dean handed the card to Cas, who held it confusedly in his hands.

“What do you want me to do with it?” Cas questioned. If Dean expected him to put it in the envelope and lick it, too, then he was mistaken.

Dean looked at Cas as though he was growing another head. “Write inside it, dumbass.”

Cas felt his chest warm. “You want me to write in it?”

Dean was starting to look sheepish. “Do you not want to?”

“No!” Cas exclaimed. “I mean, yes.” He quickly grabbed the pen and wrote a quick ‘ _happy birthday, Sam’_ beneath Dean’s name. He even put in a few smiley faces at the end.

Dean watched him with a small smile, and their eyes met for a few moments. They didn’t look away until Impala started chasing the pen in Cas’ hand, and bit him by mistake.

“Impala!” Dean shouted, grabbing the puppy and putting him on the floor. “Don’t bite!”

“Dean it’s fine-”

“Cas, he bit you!” Dean exclaimed, grabbing Cas’ hand and bringing it closer to inspect it.

“It’s not even bleeding-”

“Cas, just let me-”

“Dean,” Cas pulled his hand away gently. “I appreciate you trying to look after me, but Impala’s teeth are approximately five millimetres long, they can’t do much damage.”

Dean’s cheeks tinted slightly. “Uh, sorry.”

Cas smiled and suddenly stood up and stretched, his arms above his head. Dean tracked the motion with his eyes, noticing the way his t-shirt rode up, flashing old hickeys.

It wasn’t the only thing he noticed.

“Is that my t-shirt, Cas?”

Cas frowned at Dean in a _duh, obviously_ way. “I don’t have any more clean clothes, Dean. I packed for three days, and that was a month ago.”

“Oh,” Dean said, running a hand through his hair. He suddenly realised how domestic he and Cas had become; practically living together, sharing clothes, owning a pet together, cooking for each other.

It didn’t scare him as much as it should.

What did scare him, however, was that they only had an hour and a half until they needed to get to Sam’s house.

“Hey, Cas, wanna help me bake a pie?”

Cas nodded, a grin on his face.

★               ★                ★

 

★               ★                ★

On the second weekend in May, it was time for another convention.

May also marked the end of Dean’s five months of no dating; meaning that if Dean wanted to, he could tell everyone about his relationship with Cas.

The thought made his palms sweat.

On the Friday, Dean had a panel with Sam, and he could feel in his gut that something big was going to happen.

He wasn’t wrong.

It began normally, with the fans asking questions and listening to Sam and Dean’s silly stories and jokes, but it quickly turned to the topic of Dean and Cas; like many things did those days.

“Hi, Dean! Well, um, my question is do you love Cas?” A fan asked, biting her lip in excitement. Dean felt himself blush lightly, but hoped the strong stage lights would wash it out.

Dean felt butterflies erupt in his stomach at the question.

“You know what? I _hate_ Cas.” Dean announced with a grin. “I hate his messy sex hair, I hate his disgustingly bright blue eyes, I hate that he really likes cuddles, _”_ Dean took a deep breath, ignoring the crowd as he pushed a hand through his hair. “Despite all that, I don’t think I could ever live without him because even though he’s a dork who wears stupid sweaters, he’s my best friend.”

The crowd cheered, and Sam looked at Dean as though he’d just crapped pulled out a box of kittens and was handing them out to everyone.

“Oh,” The fan who’d asked the question sighed. “So you’re just friends?”

The crowd made disappointed noises.

Dean rubbed the back of his neck.

“You know, Dean, you didn’t answer her question.” Sam smirked from where he was sitting, earning a death glare from Dean. “Do you love Cas?”

The crowd cheered in agreement with Sam.

“You’re all such nosy sons of bitches,” Dean groaned affectionately.

“Hey guys,” Sam said slyly to the crowd, “Do you think it’d be easier for Dean to come clean if we brought Cas up here?”

Dean buried his head in his hands as the crowd yelled.  Sam gestured to one of the handlers at the side of the stage, who nodded and disappeared, presumably to get Cas.

“I hate you, Sammy.” Dean grumbled, keeping his head buried in his hands, not wanting to see the knowing looks on everyone’s faces. “You’re not my brother anymore. I’m an only child.”

Sam smirked in reply.

A few moments later the crowd began to scream once again, and Dean knew it was because Cas had arrived even though he didn’t look.

“Hey, Cas!” Sam exclaimed enthusiastically. “We need your help.”

Dean peeked at Cas through his fingers, who was looking confused.

“Help with what?” Cas asked, walking over to stand between Sam and Dean’s chairs so his back wasn’t to the crowd.

“Dean is being a chicken,” Sam stated, “He won’t admit that he _loooooves_ you.”

Dean groaned once again, but lifted his head. “You’re crazy, Sam.”

“Am I, Dean?” Sam smirked. “What do you think, Cas?”

“Oh yeah,” Cas grinned, reaching his arm out and throwing it casually around Dean’s shoulders. “Dean is definitely in love with me.”

The crowd screamed.

Dean lowered his mic and turned towards Cas, whispering in his ear: “What are you doing, doofus?”

Cas smiled, leaning in to whisper back. “It’s been five months, Dean.”

Dean knew that, but he hadn’t thought Cas had been counting down the days as Dean had; the thought made his chest warm slightly, and he knew exactly what he needed to do.

 “What are you guys whispering about?” Sam asked, but both men ignored him.

“Do you really wanna do this, Cas?” Dean asked, absentmindedly reaching out his hand to grab Cas’ forearm. He did that a lot, lately. It was as though his subconscious always needed a link between him and Cas; a tether, or an anchor.

“Yes, Dean.” Cas grinned largely, his gums showing. “I really want to.”

Dean hesitated. “Are you _sure_?”

“ _Yes,_ Dean.” Cas replied, rolling his eyes.

“’Cause, y’know, once we do this it’ll be hard to take it ba-”

“Dean, I swear to god if you don’t stop asking me about it, I’m going to break up with you right now.”

“Okay, seriously, what are you two talking about?” Sam exclaimed.

Cas and Dean shared a significant look.

“Dean and I, we have an announcement.” Cas said into his microphone.

Sam raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything, letting Dean and Cas have their moment. Dean took a deep breath before standing up and stepping away from his chair, and extended a hand to Cas, who stepped forward to join Dean.

“ _Cas, you’re so hot!”_ A fan suddenly screamed from the audience.

Dean frowned, pointing a warning finger towards the fan. “Hey! Cas is taken for, you heathen!” He joked, and the crowd screamed; especially the girls in the front who were wearing destiel t-shirts.

“You’re taken, Cas?” Sam asked from behind them in faux-surprise. “Who ever could it be that has taken your hand in love?” He paused. “It’s Gabriel isn’t it?”

“Is it _hell_ Gabriel,” Dean muttered. “Cas has good taste in men.”

“If he had good taste he wouldn’t be dating you!” Sam yelled, and the whole room went silent; the only sound was the soft gasps of shock echoing through the crowd.

“Uh, I mean-” Sam said awkwardly. “I-”

“ _Is it true?”_ Someone squealed.

Dean took a deep breath, before slinging an arm around Cas’ waist. “I dunno when I suddenly landed in a Nicholas Sparks novel, but- yeah.” Dean grinned. “It’s true.”

Instead of soft gasps that time, the room erupted into screaming and shouting. Even though a large portion of the crowd seemed to be Destiel shippers, it was still a shock to everyone for it to actually be true. Even the countless pictures and rumours of Dean and Cas couldn’t prepare them for the reality.

“I think my ear drums just exploded.” Cas groaned, but there was a huge smile on his face. It felt amazing to finally be open and honest about the relationship; for the first time.

“My publicist is going to kill me,” Dean grinned. “But who gives a damn?”

“Not me.” Cas replied, leaning in closer to Dean.

Dean leant in closer, too. “Are we really gonna do this in front of everyone, angel?” He whispered.

Cas hummed, before placing a hand on the back of Dean’s neck and pulling him in for a kiss, making the audience scream once again.

 

★               ★                ★

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

A few days later, Sam and Charlie had declared that they were going to take Dean and Cas out to the Roadhouse, to celebrate them coming out of the closet.

They didn’t even bother refusing; knowing Charlie could probably blackmail the hell out of them if they even tried to say no.

That’s how they ended up at the Roadhouse on a Friday night, drunkenly singing along to the music Charlie had put on, which was Taylor Swift. Even Dean was dancing, albeit with one of his I’m-too-macho-to-enjoy-this faces on. At Eleven PM , Cas suggested they go for a walk on the beach. There was only so much a person could take of Gabriel dancing on the table singing Beyoncé songs.

It took them thirty minutes to try and sneak out without anyone noticing, and in the end they had to run all the way to the beach because they swore they could hear Charlie running after them.

When they got to the beach, they collapsed onto the sand, hands intertwined and chests heaving. The sky was alight with stars above them, the sound of the ocean crashing against the shore music to their ears.

“I’m going to miss Vancouver.” Castiel announced.

“What do you mean?” Dean asked with a frown. “You’re leaving?”

“One day, I will.” Cas paused for a moment. “I’ve always wanted to live in New England.” He told Dean, thinking of the time he and Claire had gone on a road trip to Boston. Cas had to admit that Massachusetts was one of the prettiest places he’d ever been to.

Dean hummed, brushing his thumb across the back of Cas’ hand. “New England ‘s nice.” He agreed. “Won’t you want to keep acting? I thought it was your dream.”

“Acting has been nice, yes, but I’m not sure if I want to do this forever. I never wanted to become famous, but I have enjoyed the experience.” Cas smiled, thinking of the good times he’d had working on the set of Not Natural. In just three weeks, filming would be over with. “I wasn’t lying in the interview we did before, I was thinking about writing a book.”

“About what?”

“My life.”

“Would I be in it?”

“Of course, Dean. You’d be the second most frequent character in  the book.” Cas said. “From the beginning to the end.”

 Dean turned his head so he could look at Cas, who was still looking upwards at the stars. “You mean that? To the end?”

“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.” Cas paused. “What about you? What will you do?”

“Probably relax for a while. It’s not like I haven’t got the money for it.” Dean grinned. It was nice to be able to do anything he wanted and not have to worry about having enough money or if there was enough food. “It depends.”

“On what?”

Dean’s cheeks tinted in the moonlight. “Uh, y’know. Stuff.”

Cas turned his head at that, and was slightly surprised to see Dean already looking at him. “What stuff?”

“Y’know. Where I am, who I’m with. The situation.” Dean mumbled. He didn’t want to admit to Cas that he couldn’t picture a future that didn’t involve Cas in it, along with Impala the car, Impala the dog and maybe even a few kids, it didn’t matter what job he had as long as he was happy, and he had all of those things.

“I suppose you’re right.” Cas agreed. Before Dean could reply, however, the moment was broken by the sound of people nearby singing Happy Birthday.

Down the beach there was a group of people, along with a handmade campfire that was roaring, smoke dancing into the sky. Dean wondered how they’d missed it earlier.

Dean turned to Cas with a grin, before getting to his feet and extending a hand towards Cas. “Let’s go and gate crash their party.”

“But it’s someone’s birthday, Dean!” Cas replied, but slid his hand into Dean’s and allowed himself to be pulled up anyway.

“Exactly! Who wouldn’t want two handsome celebrities to show up at their birthday party?” Dean justified, and began to tug Cas towards the party by his hand. Cas began to protest, but Dean shut him up with a kiss before carrying on with his journey determinedly.

Once they got to the fringes of the party, they realised it was mostly girls, and there was about thirty people there. Cas and Dean sat down on a piece of driftwood, observing the partiers, who hadn’t even noticed their arrival yet.

“This is fun, eh?” Dean said, picking up a sealed beer can from the ground and opening it, before taking a long gulp.

Cas wrapped his arms around himself and nodded.

“You okay?” Dean asked, concerned. He noticed Cas was shivering slightly, and so he pulled off his leather jacket and handed it to him. Cas took it gratefully and slid it on.

“Thank you, Dean.” Cas smiled, leaning into his boyfriend’s side.

“How long d’you think before someone notices us?” Dean asked, wrapping an arm around Cas, who shrugged.

“Maybe they won’t recognise us.” Cas offered.

As if on cue, two girls suddenly appeared in front of them.

“Oh my _god.”_ One of the girls said. Dean and Cas assumed she was the party girl, seeing as she was donning a badge that read ‘birthday girl’. “I can’t believe it. What are you doing at my party?”

Dean grinned at her. “Do you not want us here?”

“No, no!” Birthday girl exclaimed. “Of course I want you here, I just can’t believe it! I love you guys so much. Can I get a picture with you?”

Dean and Cas agreed, so the girl gave her friend her phone and stood behind Dean and Cas.

“Take a picture of us, Kelly!” Birthday girl exclaimed, and Kelly complied.

“What’s your name?” Cas asked the girl once they’d taken the picture.

“Amanda.” Cas began to introduce himself, but Amanda shook her head. “I know who you are, silly. I’m a really big fan.”

Dean nudged Cas with his elbow. “See, babe? I knew they’d recognise us.”

Cas rolled his eyes. “I don’t know how I can even fit on this log with you, seeing as your ego is so large.” He teased.

“You two are so cute together!” Kelly told them, a huge grin on her face. “I wish I had a boyfriend like you, Dean.” Kelly pouted.

“You’ll find him one day, sweetheart.” Dean told her sincerely. “If you told me last year I’d meet the love of my life at a convention I’d have laughed in your face.”

Dean stiffened when he realised what he’d just said, but Cas only shook his head affectionately.

“You get so cheesy when you’ve been drinking.” Cas snorted. “What will you do next, serenade me beneath the stars?”

“Of course, baby!” Dean exclaimed. “

Cas pretended to swoon. “Oh, wow! You make my loins so _hot,_ Dean Winchester!” Both men dissolved into laughter as Amanda and Kelly watched them with wide eyes.

“I feel like I’m watching some sort of porno.” Amanda said to her friend, who nodded in agreement.

“C’mon baby, I’m not gonna put those hot loins to waste!” Dean declared, standing up and picking Cas up in a bridal carry.

“It was nice meetin’ you, Amanda!” Dean exclaimed, before gripping Cas tightly and carrying him in the direction of their house. They got about twenty feet before Dean collapsed.

 _Oh well_ , Dean thought. _We can sleep on the beach tonight._

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

 

 

★               ★                ★ 

 

****

“I told you to get rid of Winchester.” Lucifer said coldly.

“It’s impossible! Him and Novak are inseparable. They live together, for God’s sakes!” Bela replied. “I don’t know what you expected me to do.”

“I should kill you right now, just for being a failure.” Lucifer spat. “But I’m not going to.”

Bela raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Nope. Because you’re going to help me sort out this mess.” Lucifer smiled. “Winchester isn’t going to be a problem for much longer. What about you, Ruby? Will you help your sister?”

The girl’s eyes widened as she gulped. “Yes.”

“Perfect, now here’s what we need to do…”


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only one more chapter left, guys! I'm not crying I swear. Someone put a bowl of onions next to me..

Dean didn’t wake up on the beach.

He woke up in a dark stone room, tied to a chair.

It was too dark to see much of anything, the only light coming through the small window near the ceiling, and Dean realised he was in a basement of some kind. What he didn’t know, however, was how he’d got there.

“Cas?” He called out with a scratchy voice.

The word echoed in the cold room. There was no response.

 _Thank god_ , Dean thought. _At least Cas isn’t tied up here, too._

Dean tried to shimmy his wrists from the bond, but the rope was tied so tightly that he could barely move them; there was no way he was getting out of it.

“Hello?” Dean yelled. He wanted to know what was happening, and _fast._

Suddenly, Dean heard the sound of a door opening behind him, followed by footsteps clumping down a staircase.

“Dean, Dean, Dean.” A voice said, and Dean felt a hand brush across his shoulders. “Finally awake, I see?”

“No, I’m just talking in my sleep.” Dean snapped, trying to turn around to see who was behind him, but the man held his head still.

“Don’t get smart with me, Dean.” The man chided. “Or I’ll just kill you slower.”

Dean stiffened. _Kill him?_

That didn’t matter, though. He had other things to worry about. “Where’s Cas?”

The man chuckled behind him. “My darling Castiel is fine and healthy. He probably doesn’t know you’re gone, you see, I took him home, and then I left him a note. Or rather, you left him a note, saying you’d gone for a jog. But oops! Oh no, poor Dean was involved in a hit and run.”

Dean started to struggle against the ropes once again. “You sick fuck, why are you doing this?”

The man chuckled once again, before walking slowly around to face Dean.

“ _Lucifer_.”

Lucifer reached forward to stroke Dean’s cheek. “I do see why Castiel is so enamoured with you, Dean. You’re a pretty thing, aren’t you?”

“ _Let me go.”_

“Dean, why on earth would I go through the struggle of capturing you, and then just let you go?” Lucifer made a ‘tsk’ noise. “Does a spider release a fly after he gets it in his web? No.”

“Why are you doing this?” Dean pleaded.

“You’re a hindrance, Dean Winchester. I want Castiel to come with me, but of course, he wouldn’t dream of leaving with you still in the picture.”

“So what, you’re going to _kill_ me because Cas doesn’t like you?”

Lucifer’s fist hovered above Dean’s face, as though he was about to hit him, but dropped it at the last moment. “You’re lucky that I don’t do my own dirty work, Winchester.”

Dean was about to ask him what he meant, but was cut off by a knock on the door.

“Come in!” Lucifer called brightly. Once again, there was the sound of clumping boots descending the stairs. “Alistair, so nice to see you.”

“You too, Lucifer.” A nasal voice said, and Alistair went around Dean to stand by Lucifer. There was a knife in his hand, and a gun sticking out of his waistband.

“You’re not even going to kill me yourself?” Dean asked incredulously. “That’s weak, man.”

“No, it’s intelligent. This way, the police will never track the kidnapping to me.” Lucifer said with a smirk, as though he’d discovered the secret to world domination.

“Why are you so obsessed with Cas, anyway?”

Alistair looked impatient, but Lucifer put a hand on his shoulder and shoved him backwards. “ _Because,_ Dean, he is my brother, and with him, my fame would know no bounds. Do you know how crazy fans get? They will do literally anything you ask of them. Think of the power I would have!”

“Why do you need Cas to help you do that?”

“He’s a looker, that one, and the answer is simple. He’d bring me even more fans. You must have noticed how quickly the fans became enamoured with Castiel when he joined your petty little TV show, don’t you? Think of that times a million.”

“You’re a freaking psychopath, buddy!” Dean exclaimed. “What is the point? Cas doesn’t even _like_ you!”

Lucifer looked stormy as he gave Alistair a hand signal, making him step forward and slash the knife across Dean’s bicep.

Dean groaned in pain, but tried to keep it reigned in mostly. He didn’t want to be weak in front of them.

“Perfect, Alistair. You may carry on. Make it slow. I want him to suffer.” Lucifer ordered with a sick smile, before pulling a chair from behind Dean and sitting down across from them, where he’d be able to get a front row view of Alistair torturing Dean.

Alistair smirked, and slashed the knife through Dean’s t-shirt and taking it off.

“Y’know, I prefer to be wined and dined first-”

“Does the sarcasm make you feel better, Dean?” Alistair growled, carving a scarlet path across Dean’s right side. “It’s just going to make me take even more time to kill you, so carry on.”

Dean’s blood was trailing down his stomach like a red waterfall, as dark spots filled his vision and Alistair kept cutting Dean with the blade.

Just as Alistair was about to cut across Dean’s nipple, the door burst open.

“Freeze! Vancouver PD, drop your weapon.” A woman’s voice said. Alistair and Lucifer both looked up with wide eyes.

“Fuck! How did they-” Lucifer’s mouth dropped open when he saw who was stood behind the policewoman. “Bela, you traitor! I will kill you for this!”

“Pretty hard to kill people from jail, buddy.” Dean grinned, his voice slurred.

Lucifer narrowed his eyes. “Alistair, finish the job.”

“Drop the knife or we’ll shoot!” The policewoman called out, stepping further down the stairs, just as Alistair plunged the blade deep into Dean’s stomach.

The last thing Dean heard was the sound of a gunshot going off.

 

★               ★                ★

 

The room Dean woke up in was so bright that it reminded him of the scene in Lord of the Rings when Frodo woke up after nearly dying. The moment was ruined, however, when the blinding pain in his stomach decided to make itself known.

“He’s awake!” Someone called out. “Someone get Dr.Visyak!”

There was the sound of bustling and a few people shouting, but Dean’s vision was too blurry for him to see anything.

“Dean, can you hear me?” A woman’s voice asked. Dean groaned in response. “Good. You’re at the hospital, Dean. Do you remember what happened?” Another groan. “We had to remove your spleen, and you were asleep for two days, but you’re doing well. You’ll be healthy again in no time.”

Dean blinked his eyes, trying to clear his vision, and a blonde doctor came into his sight.

“Cas?” Dean mumbled, his voice scratchy. “Where’s Cas?”

Dean felt someone slip their hand into his. “I’m right here, Dean.” A voice said; one that Dean recognised well. He turned his head to the side, and the slightly-blurry sight of Cas sitting by his bed was enough to make his heart race.

Dean blushed as the heart monitor let the whole room know just how excited he was to see Cas alive and well.

“Lucifer?” Dean asked.

Castiel shared a look with the doctor, before squeezing his hand tighter. “Lucifer and Alistair are both dead.”

Dr Visyak left the room, leaving Dean and Cas to talk in private.

Dean blinked in surprise, but before he could reply, Sam was barging towards the bed and leaking tears all over Dean’s face. “You’re okay!” Sam cried, holding Dean’s head between his large hands. “I’m so glad you’re awake-”

“Wow, okay, BFG!” Dean tried to shove Sam away. “Personal space!”

Sam pulled away sheepishly. “I’m sorry, Dean, this is all my fault, I should’ve realised Bela was a nut job-”

“What did Bela do?” Dean asked, confused.

“Dean,” Sam took a deep breath. “Bela and Nicole were both working for Lucifer.”

“Bela? And my _assistant?”_ Dean gaped. “They were working with Lucifer.”

“They helped Lucifer capture you, but they changed their minds and called the police.” Cas told him. “Apparently, they’re sisters. Nicole’s real name is Ruby.”

 “But why?” Dean asked. “They were working with us long before you came, Cas!”

“We’re not sure, exactly, but we think that Lucifer approached them afterwards. He might have offered them money.” Sam said. “I’m sorry, Dean, I shouldn’t have dated her, I-”

“Sam,” Cas said sternly. “It wasn’t your fault. If anything, it was my fault. Lucifer did this to get to me. If Dean and I weren’t together, this would have never happened.”

Dean tugged Cas closer with their linked hands. “Cas, I swear to god, if I hear you blaming yourself for this ever again, I will punch you in the face.”

“But, Dean-”

“ _No,_ Cas.”                                                                                                                    

Cas nodded submissively.

“Well, uh- we have bad news, too.” Sam told him sheepishly. “Not Natural was cancelled.”

Dean jerked up in bed, before falling back and clutching his stomach in pain. “What the _fuck_?”           

“They’re going to let us finish this season, even though it’ll be delayed because you won’t be out for at least two weeks, but after that,” Sam sighed. “It’s finished.”

“We believe it was Lucifer’s doing, and now it’s too late to change anything.” Cas said morosely. Dean’s chest panged for him; he knew how much Not Natural meant to Cas. It was what had introduced him to acting, and all of his friends, and the fans, and mostly, _Dean._

“Good news, though, Jess and Edlund are working on writing a new TV show, and we could work on that, instead!” Sam looked excited as he told them the news.

“Yeah,” Dean agreed with a slight frown. “Maybe.”

Sam’s phone suddenly rang, and he checked the phone before giving Dean a guilty look. “It’s uh, Jess-”

“Go answer it, lover boy.  I’m good here.”

Sam smiled thankfully and disappeared out of the room, leaving Cas alone with Dean.

“Don’t apologise, Cas.” Dean said, knowing that was the first thing Cas would do. “Please don’t say you’re sorry for something you had no control over.”

Cas averted his eyes sheepishly, the words dying on his tongue. “I love you, Dean, but if you get hurt again I’ll probably have a heart attack at the ripe age of 23 and it won’t be pretty.”

Dean chuckled. “I’ll try not to, angel.” He promised, stroking his thumb across the back of Cas’ hand, before yawning.

“Do you want me to leave you alone so you can sleep?” Cas offered, although it looked like the last thing on earth he’d like to do.

Dean shook his head. “You _dare_.” Dean moved to the side of his bed, and lifted the covers in an invitation to Cas.

“But-”

“Just get in, Cas.” Dean said in a broken voice.

Cas couldn’t say no to that.

  
★               ★                ★

 

 

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

A week later, Dean got an unexpected visitor.

“Mr Winchester,” A nurse called, popping her head into the room. “You have a visitor. Should I let her in?”

Dean sat up in his bed. “Who is it?”                             

The nurse looked at the clipboard in her hand. “Bela Talbot.”

Dean stiffened, before nodding. The nurse disappeared, leaving Cas and Dean alone in the room. Cas looked at Dean with a disapproving look.

“Dean, do you really think it’s a good idea to le-”

Dean squeezed Cas’ hand reassuringly. “She saved me, Cas. I know she’s a manipulative skeeze who broke my brother’s heart, but I owe her at least a conversation.”

Cas nodded, but he didn’t look happy about the fact. “If she tries anything then I will drag her out of here myself, Dean.”

“It makes me all tingly when you get protective like th-” Dean’s sentence trailed off as Bela appeared in the doorway, wearing a tight purple dress and smudged make-up.

“Hello, Dean.” She said, and her voice sounded weird without the usual sarcastic tone. She sounded as tired as she looked.

Cas leaned back in his chair, not wanting to interfere with the conversation.

“Bela.” Dean nodded with a strained voice. “What do you want?”

“I need to explain myself. I tried to talk to Sam but-” She let out a shaky breath. “He won’t have anything to do with me. Not that I blame him, of course.”

“You’re going to explain how you sold pictures of Cas and I to the tabloids? Or how you tipped off paparazzi to where we were all the time? Or how you convinced my publicist to make me date Carmen?”

Bela’s eyes widened. “How did you-”

“It doesn’t matter how I know, Bela. And don’t even start me on how you played my brother. If you hadn’t helped me with Lucifer, I would have shot you by now.”

‘“Just, hear me out, okay?” Bela took a deep breath. “Ten years ago, I met one of Mark Pellegrino’s ‘people’, while I was still living in the UK. She offered me a way to get to America, to leave my parents and become an actress, like I’d always dreamed about. Of course, there was a catch. She told me that in ten years, Mark would call me and ask for a favour. If- if I didn’t do what he asked, they were going to _kill_ me.”

Dean frowned, but for some reason, he believed every word she said. “What about Nicole? How does she come in to all of this? Or, y’know, _Ruby.”_

Cas looked angry at the mention of Nicole, or whatever her real name was. Just as Bela had played Sam, Nicole had played Claire.

Bela looked sheepish. “Her real name is Ruby Nicole Cortese, but I made her change it. I brought her with me when I left England, because I thought it would be better for her.” Bela sighed. “It wasn’t. I tried to hide her from Lucifer, changed her name, dyed her hair, moved us to Canada. Of course, it didn’t work. Lucifer’s friend, Lilith, found her. She said if we both listened to what Lucifer wanted us to do, they would let us live. What Lucifer wanted was Cas with him, and you gone.”

Bela’s eyes filled with tears. “I just want it to be over. I’m taking Ruby back to England with me. I don’t care if I get arrested, or killed, as long as she’s safe.” Her eyes narrowed. “Are you going to stop me?”

Dean held up his hands in defeat. “Look, I’m not gonna stop you if you wanna leave. I know all about looking after your younger siblings, okay? Just promise you’ll stop with all of the bullshit.”

Bela nodded solemnly. “I promise, and Dean, I’m so-”

“Don’t.” Dean shook his head. “You saved me. We’re even.”

Bela gave Dean a watery smile, before walking over to the bed and kissing him on the forehead. “Goodbye, Dean. Tell Sam I’m sorry, would you? Not that it would make a difference, of course, I- I just want him to know the reason.”

Dean paused before nodding. Bela smiled thankfully, and stepped forwards towards Cas. “Give this to Claire, would you? It’s from Ruby. She wants to explain.”

Cas took the note from Bela hesitantly, and with a strained smile Bela turned around and left the room. They would never see her again.

  
★               ★                ★

 

  
★               ★                ★

 

A week later, Dean was released from the hospital, and Cas arrived to drive him home. At Dean’s house, Sam and Cas had organised a welcome home dinner for Dean, inviting only Claire, Charlie, Gabriel and Jess.

“Hey, guys.” Dean smiled as he walked into the house, the smell of steak wafting from the kitchen. “Y’know, you didn’t need to do this-”

Charlie stepped forward and punched Dean’s arm. “Shut up, Dean Winchester. You nearly died, and you deserve this, okay?”

Dean’s cheeks darkened, but he agreed anyway, and before long they were all sat around Dean’s dining table.

“Wow, Gabe.” Dean said around a mouthful of food. “I didn’t know you could cook like this.”

Gabriel smirked, looking proud of himself. “You do now, bucko, just don’t expect me to cook for you ever again. Near death experiences, only.”

“You dare have another near death experience,” Castiel warned, jabbing his fork in Dean’s direction, “And I will kill you myself.”

“Okay, Cas, the next time a psychopath tries to kill me I’ll just tell him nah, not today, I’m not allowed from my boyfriend.” Dean teased, but he enjoyed seeing the protective side of Castiel; it wasn’t something he saw often before meeting Cas, except from Sam.

“So, uh, I have news.” Claire announced half way through the meal. The group looked at her curiously as she cleared her throat. “I’ve decided to accept the offer from Stanford. I'm leaving in a few weeks.”

Cas looked proud as he got up and went to hug his little sister, tears threatening to surface in his eyes. “I’m so proud of you, Claire bear.”

Claire batted him away. “You’re so embarrassing!” She grumbled, but there was a blinding smile on her face.

“I’m going to miss you.” Cas told her.

“Obviously,” Claire huffed jokingly. “I’m the best little sister you could ever have. Your life will be empty without me.”

“Hey!” Dean exclaimed from his seat. “He still has me, you punk!”

“I sympathise, Cassie. You could come with me, if you want. I know how annoying it must be to live with Dean.” Claire winked, and Dean hurled a fry at her head.

“Watch it, or I’ll get Impala to bite you.” Dean warned, and Impala whined at the mention of her name from her spot on the ground next to Dean.

“Please, Impala wouldn’t even bite someone if they asked him to!” Gabriel exclaimed.

Sam nodded in agreement. “Your dog is kind of a wuss, Dean.”

Dean bent down to scoop Impala into his lap, and Impala licked his nose happily. “Don’t listen to them, ‘pala. They’re just jealous they aren’t as cute as you are.”

Charlie suddenly tapped her knife on her wine glass. “Now that we’re on the topic of big news,” She began, looking excited. “Dorothy and I are back together, and we’re going to spend the summer in New Zealand! We’ll get to see all the places Lord of the Rings was filmed!”

Dean looked incredibly jealous at the news, and Cas returned to his seat next to Dean and put his hand on Dean’s thigh. “That sounds lovely, Charlie.” Cas said.

However, Dean was lost in thought. All of his friends were moving on with their lives, and Dean suddenly felt the need to progress with his own life, too. Ever since he almost died, he was suddenly hit with the realisation that life was so short, and Dean wanted to make the most of things in case anything ever happened; even if it was really cliché to think that.

Dean watched Cas talk with Charlie about going to New Zealand with a small smile. It was nice that Cas was such good friends with all of Dean’s friends.

Sam, who was sat on Dean’s other side, suddenly jabbed him in the ribs with his elbow. “Seriously, if you stare at Cas anymore he’s going to burst into flames.”

“If you had someone that hot to stare at, Sammy, you would understand.” Dean said, before realising what he’d said. “Not that Jess isn’t, y’know, hot, or anything.”

“I’m glad you’re happy, Dean.” Sam said, his eyes shining.

“Oh yeah, I mean, I nearly died two weeks ago but apart from that I’m peachy keen.” Dean smirked, but he was happy, for the first time in his life, he was fully happy; no worries or problems, not any that actually mattered, anyway. “How’s it going with Jess, anyway?”

By his side, Cas suddenly got up and disappeared into the kitchen, as Charlie and Jess worked to clear up the empty dinner plates.

Sam blushed slightly. “Uh, good. I think. A lot of the tabloids don’t like that I moved on so fast, but it feels right, y’know?”

Dean smiled at Sam’s words. It was an amazing feeling to know that his brother was happy and not with a manipulative, lying person anymore.

They talked about Jess for a few moments, until Cas suddenly re-appeared, clutching a dish in his hands. Dean salivated at the sight.

“You guys made me _pie_?” Dean asked, eyes widening. “I should nearly die more often.”

Cas placed the pie down on the table, and began to cut slices off and placing them onto plates. Dean took the first plate Cas made and began to eat enthusiastically, but with Impala still on his lap it took him much longer to eat it as the puppy kept trying to steal the pie off Dean’s fork.

“Impala, I love ya, but if you eat my pie we can’t be friends anymore.” Dean told the puppy, who huffed silently and jumped into Cas’ lap instead.

“Gabe, this pie is amazing.” Dean moaned around his last forkful, eyeing the pie dish to see if anyone would notice if he took another slice. It was literally the best pie he’d ever eaten.

Gabriel smirked. “Wasn’t me, kiddo. Your boy toy did this one all by himself.”

Dean turned to Cas with a horrified look. “You can make pie this good and you didn’t tell me? I feel so cheated.”

Cas blushed slightly. “Well, I had a lot of practice while you were at the hospital.”

“You- you practiced making me pie while I was at the hospital? You were barely home for more than six hours a day, man! When did you _sleep_?”

Cas’ blush deepened. “I couldn’t sleep without you here,” Cas admitted in a low voice. “I was too worried.”

Dean felt a pang in his chest as he remembered how he’d told Cas to go home every night, thinking he’d get a better night’s sleep if he went home. “Sorry, Cas.”

“Dean, you nearly died, and you’re apologising to _me_? Your logic astounds me sometimes.”

Dean grinned. “Okay, we’re even, then. As long as you promise to make me that pie everyday forever.”

“Forever?” Cas whistled. “That’s a lot of pies.”

Dean froze for a moment. Cas hadn’t even blinked at the mention of forever, as though he was completely comfortable with being with Dean for the rest of his life.

Dean almost choked on air when he realised that he was completely comfortable with it, too.

That’s why, twenty minutes later, when Cas went back to the kitchen, Dean turned to Sam hurriedly, an excited look on his face. “Sammy, are you busy tomorrow?”

“Uh, no?”

Dean exhaled in relief. “Good. You’re comin’ shopping with me. I need to buy something.”

 

 


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the final chapter? this is crazy, I never thought I'd actually be able to finish something without getting bored of it! thank you everyone for following this story, especially those of you that read from day one, I love you all!

 

The end of June marked a year since Castiel and Dean first met; and coincidentally, they would be spending it where they first met, too: In Chicago’s Not Natural convention.

On Friday night, Cas and Dean joined their friends at the karaoke party, and did their infamous duet of ‘A Whole New World’, while Dean made his infamous I’m-too-macho-to-enjoy-this face. Claire, Charlie and Dorothy had tagged along, too, and declared themselves the leaders of the destiel fan club and came on stage with matching t-shirts covered with Dean and Cas’ faces. Apparently, they’d put them for sale online and had raised nearly ten thousand dollars for a charity Charlie and Dorothy were going to set up. After that, they’d gone back to their room, played with Impala and gone to sleep. They’d had to bribe the girl at the front desk to let Impala stay in their room with them, but in the end she’d caved.

On Saturday morning, everyone was piled into the green room as they waited for the day to begin, when Carver Edlund and Jess came in, claiming they had big news.

“So, I’m sure you all know by now that the network pulled the plug on Not Natural,” Edlund said with a regretful look on his face. “However, as they say, when one door closes, another opens.”

The group of actors shared hopeful yet sceptical looks as Jess stepped up to stand with Edlund.

“Carver and I have been working on a new show,” Jess announced with an excited smile, “And we’d love it if we could get as many of you working on that as we can.”

“The show is about three friends, two men and one woman, and they’re all princes or princesses of Hell. I can’t really say anymore without it spoiling the show, but is anyone interested?” Carver asked. Of course, Gabriel was the first to stand up.

“Hells yeah, I would!” He exclaimed. “As long as Samsquatch joins too, of course.” Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows at Sam.

Sam barely even thought about it before coming to an answer. “I’d love to!” He told them. His girlfriend was writing it, and one of his best friends would be working alongside him; who would say no to that?

A few more people signed up to the show, too, including Balthazar, Kevin and Benny. The others all seemed to be considering it, except for Dean; and Cas was looking conflicted.

“Are you going to do it, Dean?” Cas asked his boyfriend in a low voice. It may sound stupid, but Castiel honestly didn’t want to sign up for the new show unless Dean would be on it. Acting was fun, of course, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to do it forever, especially if Dean wasn't there to do it with him.

Dean shrugged, a slight frown on his face. His gaze lifted to where Sam was stood with Jess and Gabriel, laughing about something. “I did Not Natural for Sam.” Dean paused for a few moments before turning back to Cas. “I think he’ll be okay without me joined at his hip forever, I- I need to let him do his own thing. Acting was great, the fans are amazing, but I dunno. I kinda want to try somethin’ else. You know what I mean?”

Cas smiled warmly in retaliation. “Yes, I do.” He agreed, just as Sam and Jess walked over to them, looking expectant.

“You’re going to sign up, right, Dee?” Sam questioned.

Dean looked sheepish for a moment before shaking his head slowly. “I think it’s time for me to move on from acting, Sammy.”

Sam’s face fell slightly at the prospect of working without his brother. “What will you do?”

Dean grinned, eyes flicking to Cas before landing back on Sam. “I’ve always wanted to go on a road trip. How does that sound to you, Cas?”

Cas’ expression turned to one of hurt. Dean was going to leave him? “I hope you have fun on your road trip, Dean.” Cas muttered, moving to stand up and walk away.

 Dean’s eyes widened for a moment, before he realised that Cas had misunderstood him, and reached out a hand to grab Cas’ wrist and pull him back in. “Cas, I’m askin’ you to come with me, you oblivious assbutt.”

“Assbutt is my word, Dean, we’ve been over this.” Cas replied, and Dean tugged him even closer until Cas landed in his lap. Sam and Jess made gagging noises behind them, but both men ignored their dramatics. “I’d love to go with you.”

Dean’s eyes lit up. “Yeah?”

Cas nodded, and lowered his head to place a soft kiss to Dean’s lips. “I can’t think of anything I’d rather do.”

“You two make me sick!” Gabriel called from somewhere.

Cas and Dean both flipped him the bird and continued making out until it was time for their panel, even when Gabriel threw jelly beans at them.

 

★               ★                ★

 

At lunch time, Dean sneaked out of the hotel, hood drawn up over his head to make sure he wouldn’t be recognised. He walked along the lake front, thankful that it wasn’t raining, looking at the boats passing by.

A piece of paper was clutched in his hand.

After a while, he found a bench that overlooked the lake that was in a secluded area, so he sat down. The paper in his hand was crinkled with the pressure he was putting on it, and with a deep breath, he uncurled his fist and looked down at it, before tipping his head backwards and looking up towards the sky.

“I dunno if you’re there, mom,” Dean began, keeping his breathing even as he spoke. It had been twenty-eight years since his mom had died, and Dean liked to think that she was watching over him, from wherever she was.

He hoped she’d hear him talking today.

“I have big news.” Dean announced. “I’m going to propose to my boyfriend. Scary, huh?” Dean chuckled. “You’d like him, mom. He’s great. Even though he can’t cook to save his life, he makes a pie just as good as you did.”

“I printed you a picture of him, y’know, just in case you wanted to see what he looks like, and I put a picture of the ring I’m gonna use on there, too.” Dean paused. “I think he’ll like it. I hope he will, anyway. What do you think?”

The only answer was a short burst of wind.

“It feels nice to be happy.” Dean said with a smile. “I wish you were here to see it, though. It’d feel nice to have you at my wedding.” Dean let out a shaky breath, running a hand through his hair. “I know you’ll be watching, so I guess it’s okay. I hope you’d be proud of me. I dunno. I think you would, wouldn’t you?”

Another burst of wind.

“Yeah.” Dean placed the paper on the bench next to him, picking up a small pebble off the ground and placing it over it so it would stay in place. “I love you, mom. I hope you’re happy, too. Wherever you are.”

Dean stood up from the bench, and with one last look towards the paper that was flapping under the pebble, began to walk back to the hotel.

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

On Saturday night, with sweaty palms and a thundering heartbeat, Dean took Castiel’s hand in his and took him up to the roof. The wicker chairs were still there, weary with age and neglect. Charlie and Claire had been up there before them, and had tied old Christmas lights around the roof’s perimeter, along with rows and rows of flowers gotten from a nearby florist. Dean wasn’t sure how they’d gotten them up to the roof without anyone noticing. He suspected witchcraft.

Cas’ eyes widened as they stepped out onto the roof, the twinkling lights illuminated in the blue of his pupils. “Dean,” He breathed, holding Dean’s hand in a vice-like grip. “Did you do this?”

Dean blushed slightly, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. He didn’t know whether to save himself the embarrassment and deny it, or come clean and look like some cheesy bastard, so he decided not to answer the question at all.

Dean winked at him instead, and guided him over towards the wicker chairs that they had sat on together exactly a year ago.

The flowers around them rustled softly in the wind as they sat down, and Dean grabbed both of Castiel’s hands with his own, holding them as if they were a lifeline.

“Did you ever think, last year, that this would happen?” Dean asked after a moment.

Cas smiled softly, moving forwards so that their knees were brushing against each other. “No, I hoped.” He admitted. “I never thought it would actually happen, though, seeing how macho-hetero-tough-guy you were last year.” Cas teased.

“Shut up.” Dean mumbled. “I have changed a lot, haven’t I?”

Cas’ eyes narrowed slightly as he wondered where Dean was going with the conversation. “I suppose so, or maybe you just stopped pretending.”

“Vonnegut once said that ‘You are what you pretend to be, so you must be careful what you pretend to be.’” Dean quoted, and his chest filled with warmth when he realised Cas didn’t look remotely surprised that Dean was talking about Vonnegut, as though he knew that even though Dean didn't flaunt his intelligence, he was far from stupid. “I guess he was right, huh?” Dean smiled. “I don’t need to pretend anymore, though.”

Cas was getting more confused by the second. “Dean?”

Dean’s cheeks were steadily gaining colour as he went on. “I never thought I would ever date anyone for so long, y’know? Or be able to trust someone so much, or y’know actually love someone. Sammy always said I was emotionally constipated. I’d accepted I was gonna be alone forever before you showed up.”

Suddenly, there was a yelping noise as Impala dashed out from between two sunflowers, his collar tinkling softly as he ran up to Dean and Cas. Impala tried to climb up onto Cas’ lap, but was still too small to get up by himself, so Cas lifted him up.

“I know this is probably too soon, and everything,” Dean continued, his cheeks cherry red by now, “But y’know, getting stabbed kinda changes your perspective on things.”

“Dean, what are you-” Cas trailed off as his gaze fixed on the back of Impala’s collar, where there was two name tags. One read ‘Impala’, and the other read ‘baby Cas’. They weren’t what Castiel was looking at, though.

He was looking at what was on a key ring between them; a silver ring, with a light blue band in the middle.

 **“** _Dean.”_ Cas breathed, looking up at Dean with wide eyes.

Dean was almost hyperventilating by now, his fingers shaking as he leant forward to pull the keyring off of the collar. “I didn’t want to do the whole, y’know, hide it in the champagne thing, or- or-” Dean shook his head dismissively. 

Dean pulled the ring free and held it clutched in his right hand, buried in his palm, leaving an indent in the slightly calloused skin.

“Cas,” Dean choked out around the lump in his throat. “Will you, will- wi- you, uh, oh _god_. I feel so stupid- I can’t even do this properly-”

Cas placed his hand over Dean’s reassuringly, his eyes teary as he stroked his thumb across the back of Dean’s knuckles. “Dean, I-”

“No, Cas, you gotta let me finish.” Dean said, before taking a deep breath. “Will you, uh, _willyoumarryme_?” He rushed out the question, the words tumbling out of his mouth like they were in a hurry to get out.

“Dean, you are so infuriating.” Cas shook his head, a wide smile on his face. “I can’t _believe_ you.”

Dean’s eyes widened in panic. “Wha- what?”

Cas pulled his hand away and dug into his suit jacket, before pulling out a small velvet box. “I was going to propose to _you_.”

Dean let out a relieved breath once he realised Cas wasn’t turning him down. “You- you were?”

“I never imagined that you would ever propose, I mean, it’s you.” Cas teased. “I thought that if we were ever going to get engaged, it would be me that would ask.”

Dean didn’t bother protesting as he opened the hand the ring was in slowly, handing it out to Cas. “What do you say, Cas? Wanna be my assbutt forever?”

 Cas opened his box and pulled out the ring inside and held it out to Dean. “Only if you’ll be mine.”

Dean smiled, before whispering: “Of course I will, Cas. If you want to, of course-”

“Dean. I have completely fallen for you. Everything you do, everything you say, everything you are. You’re my first thought in the morning, my last thought before I fall asleep, and almost every thought in between.” Cas grinned, the tears in his eyes threatening to spill out. “There is no way in hell or heaven I would say no.”

“I feel like I’m in a chick flick.” Dean mumbled, but the smile on his face was radiating so much happiness it almost lit up the roof. Both men took the ring from the other and slid it onto their fingers, smiling down at them.

Dean grabbed the back of Cas’ neck and pulled him in for a kiss, until Impala whined between them because they were leaving him out.

“We’re engaged, Cas.” Dean mumbled incredulously against Cas’ lips.

Suddenly, the sound of cheering erupted across the roof as the flowers began to shake once again, and Sam, Charlie, Claire, Dorothy, Jess and Gabriel came out from behind them, big smiles on their faces.

“Are you kidding me?” Dean asked, cheeks tinting red once again. “You were there the whole time?”

“Dean Winchester proposing was something I wasn’t going to miss.” Charlie winked, before throwing herself at Cas and Dean and pulling them in a tight hug. When she pulled away, there was tears streaming down her face.

The next person to hug them was Sam, who was on the verge of crying as he saw how happy his big brother looked; the happiest he’d ever seen him. “I knew this was coming and I still can’t believe it, Dean.” Sam said, pulling the men into a big hug, sniffling loudly.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get snot all over me, Sammy.” Dean said with one of his faux macho expressions on his face, but the tears running down his face kind of made the face useless.

Sam turned to Cas and pointed a warning finger at him. “I don’t want to be that guy, Cas, but if you hurt my brother, I know my way around a gun.” Sam winked.

After that, everyone took their turn hugging and congratulating Dean and Cas. The last person to do so was Gabriel, who stepped forward with a proud smirk. “You can thank me in candy and cherry flavoured vodka.” He winked.

“Thank you for what?” Cas asked, frowning.

“For getting you two together! Without me you wouldn’t have even been friends!” Gabriel exclaimed, and for once, Sam vouched for him.

“It’s true.” Sam said, patting Gabriel on the shoulder. “Gabe here was the one that got Cas the spot on Not Natural and everything.”

“Thanks, Gabriel.” Dean grinned. “You might not be as annoying as you seem.”

“Hey! I said you can thank me in flavoured vodka and candy, not half-assed compliments!” Gabriel exclaimed, hitting Dean lightly on the back of his head. “Or, y’know, you could make me the best man at your wedding.”

“No way!” Sam shouted. “I’m definitely the best man, I’m Dean’s brother.”

“I’m Cassie’s brother!” Gabriel fired back, earning confused looks from everyone.

“No you’re not.” Cas said.

“I’m wounded, Cassie.” Gabriel pouted, clutching his chest. “I thought we had a special bond! I’m declaring myself your new brother, right now.”

“What a great engagement gift.” Castiel deadpanned.

“Still, I’m the one that’s going to be the best man.” Sam said, nudging Gabriel with his elbow.

“Who says I won’t be the best man?” Charlie threw in. “Dean’s my best friend!”

“You’re a girl!” Gabriel exclaimed in protest.

“Don’t be sexist.” Charlie huffed, crossing her arms. “I could be just as good of a best man as either of you could. Maybe even better!”

“Guys, seriously. We’re not going to get married anytime soon.” Dean told them, trying to diffuse the arguing. Charlie, Gabe and Sam looked at him with almost heart-broken expressions.

“I agree,” Castiel said, placing his hand on Dean’s knee. “We have an adventure to go on, first.”

“I’ll probably get married before you two doofs do.” Claire said, rolling her eyes.                                      

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Cas jabbed her in the ribs with a finger. “You’re going to be an unmarried virgin until you’re at least thirty five.”

Claire raised an eyebrow. “Who said I’m a virgin?”

Cas looked like he was going to be sick.

“Oh god,” Cas groaned. “Why, god? Why would you do this to me?”

“Relax, Cassie. Like I always say,” Gabriel grinned before continuing. “Don’t sweat the petty things, and don’t pet the sweaty things.” He paused. “Except for Dean’s sweaty thin-”

“I beg you to not finish that sentence.” Claire exclaimed, covering her eyes with her hands.

“You’re all so boring and virginal,” Gabriel whined. “Let’s go to a strip club!”

Charlie and Dorothy agreed, and soon left the roof. After that, one by one, the group trickled away, leaving Cas and Dean alone once again.

“I’m glad Claire made me go to that convention last year.” Cas whispered, climbing into Dean’s lap, thankful that Charlie had taken Impala with her so they didn’t have to worry about him getting jealous.

“Me too, Cas.” Dean breathed against Cas’ lips. “Now I have someone to go on a road trip with.”

“And I have someone I can use as a human pillow when I go to sleep.” Cas teased. “And you can cook food without burning it, that’s a plus too.”

Dean chuckled softly, lifting his left hand and running it through Cas’ hair slowly, the ring glistening on his fourth finger. “I knew you were only with me for my cooking skills.”

“There’s also the fact you have the biggest penis I’ve ever seen.” Cas mused. “And you’re pretty, I guess.”

“Wow, Cas, tell me what you really think.”

Cas grinned, cradling Dean’s face between his hands and pulling him in for a hard kiss. And there, in the middle of the sparkling lights and fluttering flowers, Dean and Cas fell in love all over again. 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

Even though all of their friends knew about the engagement, of course, Cas and Dean needed to tell the other important people in their lives: their fans. Lucky for them, they had a panel together the next day.

The fans didn’t notice the rings right away, or if they did, no one mentioned them.

“So, I know you guys must be sad because you weren’t at the con where Cas and I announced our relationship,” Dean began. “But we’re going to make it up to you, right Cas?”

Cas nodded, clutching the microphone excitedly. He wanted to stand on top of his chair and scream ' _we're engaged! I'm going to marry Dean Winchester!_ ' to the heavens, but he didn’t want to startle the fans.

“High five, Cas?” Dean asked, rising his left hand in invitation. Cas high fived him gladly, and several of the fans in the front rows were sat with their mouths hanging open- they’d noticed what was on their fingers.

“Do you guys think that when Cas and I get married, he should change his name to Castiel Winchester?” Dean continued. “Or should I change my name to Dean Novak?”

The fans went crazy when they realised Dean wasn’t joking.

Claire sat in the front row, smiling up at her big brother and her future brother-in-law, looking proud.

What would her life be like if she hadn’t started watching Not Natural, she wondered?

 _Terrible,_ she decided.

★               ★                ★

 

 

★               ★                ★

 

 

 

Cas blinked at the screen in front of him, the letters blurring together with the intensity of his gaze. “I’ve finished.” He whispered, mostly to himself. Dean was busy playing with barbie dolls with Ariel and Anna on the ground, only half paying attention to Cas.

“What was that, babe?” Dean asked, his eyes flicking upwards.

Cas tapped his fingers on his laptop, his wedding band glistening. “I finished it.”

“The book?” Dean gaped. “You’ve finally finished it?”

“You finished it, daddy?” Another voice asked. Ariel stood up from the floor, where she’d been sitting with her favourite doll, and walked over to Cas. She squinted at the screen. “You talked about me in it, daddy!” She squealed as she climbed up onto the couch to sit with Cas. “’s my name!” She pointed at the screen.

“I did.” Cas smiled, lifting her up and putting her in his lap, placing the laptop on the coffee table beside them. “I talked about papa, Natasha and Anna _,_ too. _"_

“You did?” Anna asked from her perch on Dean's lap. She was their youngest daughter at six years old, eight minutes younger than Natasha and fifteen minutes younger than Ariel.

“And Uncle Sam and Auntie Jess and Uncle Gabe and Auntie Charlie and Auntie Claire?” Natasha added; drawing her attention from the colouring book in front of her, pushing her flaming red bangs out of her eyes.

“Of course!” Cas grinned.

“But mostly me.” Dean winked, getting up and walking over to sit on the couch beside Ariel and Cas, and wrapping his arms protectively around them. “I still can’t believe you wrote an autobiography.” He snickered. “We’re like a family of walking clichés.”

“What’s a cliché, papa?” Ariel frowned.

“Your daddy, that’s what.” Dean replied with a chuckle. “I’m excited to read it, Cas.” He whispered into his husbands’ ear.

“Dean, you lived it.” Cas told him. “You literally know everything that’s going to happen.”

“Yeah, but it’ll be cool to read how hot you thought I was when you met me.” Dean grinned.

“Did you really think that, daddy?” Natasha asked, seemingly having decided that her parents were suddenly more interesting than her favourite colouring book, and walked over to sit on the couch on the other side of Castiel.

“Of course, your papa is a handsome man, Tasha.” Cas agreed. “But at least I didn’t embarrass myself when I met him.”

Natasha tipped her head to the side in confusion. “Huh?”

“Dean ran away when he first met me, because he thought I was very handsome.” Cas smirked, and Dean blushed and buried his head into Cas’ neck.

Anna, feeling left out, pushed herself up from the floor and climbed into Dean’s lap, a frown on her face. “Why did you run away, papa? Did you not like him?”

“Of course, baby. I just liked him too much.” Dean chuckled. “Plus, I was an idiot. I nearly fell off a stage.”

“I don’t want my husband to run away from me when I meet him!” Ariel exclaimed.

“Don’t worry about that, sweetheart.” Dean told her. “That’s not going to happen for a long time. Not until you’re at least 30.”

“Will you tell us?” Anna asked, burying her head into Dean’s chest.                                                                 

“Tell you what?” Castiel asked, leaning closer and pulling Natasha onto his lap also, so they were all huddled together like a penguin family on the couch.

“Tell us how you and papa met and got married and what’s in the book!” Anna cried, excitement building in her tone.

Dean and Cas shared a look over the top of her head, and did a mental game of rock, paper, scissors. As usual, Dean lost, but Cas decided to take pity on his husband and tell the story himself.

“Well, it all started when your Auntie Claire started watching this TV show named Not Natural…” Castiel began, and delved into the intricate tale of how he and Dean Winchester had fallen for each other.

He told them about how they’d been friends, and eventually became boyfriends, gotten engaged, and had gone on a road trip together. Dean cut in sometimes, with a witty remark or a funny memory, but apart from that he sat back and listened to his husband relay the story.

 Cas then told them about how after he and Dean had spent a year travelling around the US,  and had ended up in a small seaside town in Maine, which they’d fallen in love with at first sight. He told them about how miraculously, Sam, Jess and Gabriel had fallen in love working on the set of their new TV show, and after four years, they decided to retire. The three of them moved up to Maine to live next to Dean and Cas and had fallen into a comfortable polyamorous relationship, living next door. He then told them about how Dean and Cas had decided they wanted children, and had asked Charlie to be their surrogate, who’d gladly agreed; which was how their children all had red hair.

Lastly, he told them about how he and Dean had gotten married there, on the beach in Maine, 10 years after Dean had proposed. They hadn’t wanted to get married until gay marriage was legalized everywhere; a sort of silent protest. Of course, the triplets had been the bridesmaids, with Sam and Gabriel as the best men and Claire, Jess and Charlie as the best women. 

It was a story they told often; the one of their marriage. Everyone liked it for a different reason; the triplets liked the fact they’d gotten to wear pretty dresse, Dean liked the fact that they’d gotten a heap of presents and the horribly adorable speech Sam said at the reception. But Cas? His favourite part of the story was how Dean had almost cried of happiness when he’d found out that Cas hadn’t gotten them a wedding cake; but instead, a wedding _pie_. It even had little figurines of Dean and Cas on the top.

Dean might not have cried then, he didn’t even cry when Cas made his speech, or when Anna, Ariel and Natasha had stood on a table and claimed how happy they were that their daddies were getting married. Dean didn’t cry until that night; when Cas was curled up sideways on his chest, sleeping, and the triplets were squashed anywhere they could fit on the bed. Dean looked at them, his family, and realised that he was honestly blessed to have such an amazing life, and he cried. He couldn’t believe that he was so lucky.

Cas had woken up to the sound of his sniffling and told him he was a sap.

“You make me sound so much more of a cheeseball than I am.” Dean grumbled from  his side on the couch. “I’m not a sap. I’m a big, strong, manly dude who can build cars from scratch.”

Cas raised an eyebrow. “A big strong man who also likes to watch Dr Sexy, MD, listens to Taylor Swift when he thinks no one is home and cried for three hours when we dropped the kids off in school for the first time.”

“Did you really cry for that long, papa?” Anna giggled, and Natasha and Ariel started laughing, too.

“Papa, you’re cute.” Ariel said, tapping Dean on the head.

“’m not _cute_.” Dean mumbled.

“I love you papa cutie pie!” Natasha cried, clambering over Cas’ lap to place a wet kiss on Dean’s cheek. 

“Once my book comes out, everyone will know you’re one big romantic assbutt, Dean Winchester.” Cas grinned.

“Why did I ever marry you?” Dean groaned playfully.

“Because he’s an angel, papa!” Anna said.

“What, Cas? An _angel_?” Dean scoffed. “Hardly. More like a demon, I think.”

“Why do you call him angel then?” Natasha asked.

Dean didn’t have a good answer to that; he just shrugged accepted the fact that he’d fallen in love with an angel.

It didn’t seem too far from the truth.

 

 

 

 

 

%MCEPASTEBIN%


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